On Fire
by princess de lovely
Summary: Contradicting twins have been running for 4 years and find a safe haven at Xavier's School for youngsters. Both have been rejected by society but can they find help from the Professor and the students, and can one of them find a love she has never known?
1. Others out there

On Fire

**Disclaimer: I do not own any characters that belong to Marvel or any of the X-Men. I only own Flex, Blaze, Dustin, Alyson, Alexis, and Brent, etc. The restaurant is mine also. I've never been to New York so I would never know. Also the song "On Fire" which inspired this story belongs to Switchfoot. NOT ME!**

Chapter 1

"_They tell you where you need to go_

_They tell you when you need to leave_

_They tell you what you need to know_

_They tell you who you need to be."_

_ "On Fire" by Switchfoot_

Walking down the halls of the high school, hearing the whispers and the rumors that spread like wildfire. Walking passed the groupies; jocks, preps, Goths, hippies, nerds and geeks, the god-fearing, and the thespians. But they had their own group that they couldn't share with other people and that made them outsiders. They were twins and mutants. It didn't help that this was the fourth school that they have been to in the past year because one of them slipped up and used their powers. Not long after they would be run out of town by the people concerned with keeping their town uncorrupted by the unholy. They were at the tender age of 15 and smart for their age and were placed as juniors in their new school. Neither one of them had friends that they could call and talk to in any city that they had stayed in. They moved too much to actually make any kind of real friends. It was a few years ago that Edana and Hali discovered their powers and were rejected by society. Always living in fear and running from abuse from others, arriving at a new school was starting to get old. Frustration would build up and many a times a remodeling company would have to come fix their home due to destruction by the twins.

Edana was older by mere minutes of birth and took on the maternal role over her younger sister. She was always protecting her from glares and fights that broke out. She would take the blame of slipping up if one of them used their powers and was caught, even if Hali did it. Hali never took Edana for granted and was forever grateful that she had someone watching over her. But as close as they were, their powers were totally contradicting. Edana who also went by the name Blaze, could create and control fire. Hali who went by the name Flux could pull water vapor out of the air and freeze anything or spray water. Many times when Edana would get mad, a fire would explode on the bed or the curtains would be charred, and Hali would have to extinguish the flame. But no matter what they were a team, partners and inseparable.

Both were 5'7" and well toned and fit and gorgeous. Edana had more of a year-round tan, brown hair with red highlights that reached her lower back, and green eyes that turned to flame when she was using her powers. Hali on the other hand had very fair, pale skin, brown hair with blondish-white highlights that was cutely styled just above her shoulders, and grey eyes that turned ice blue when she was using her powers. Sometimes their powers would be connected by their emotions and when they'd get mad or upset, Edana's eyes would flame up and Hali's could stare anyone who would even think about crossing her with her piercing eyes. But on this note, it was very difficult to get boyfriends even for a little while. All of the boys avoided them like the plague, since of course everyone thought that being a mutant was contagious.

The night before, their family just unpacked the last box in their new home. Their mom, Alexis, and dad, Brent, sat them down to have "the talk" again.

"Girls, your mom and I are a little tired of doing this packing and unpacking so let's get this right this time."

"Girls, your father's right. Now, tomorrow you two will go to the office to get enrolled to the school two blocks away. Be in your classes on time and in your seat before the bell rings. Don't give any of the teachers any reason to get either one of you in trouble or to be caught. Edana, I know your temper is getting out of control and you need to control it before you make a mistake…again" the last part she said under her breath, but Edana heard it and it hurt. "Once school is out, you two will come immediately home and work on your homework."

"Yes and the school you will be going to is a prep school that is top in the state. You need to behave like young ladies and not to make 'waves' in the new school."

The girls sat slumped on their couch with the same blank stares at their parents. "Girls sit up please." Their mother snapped. It was evident that her patience was running thin now days. "Did you hear anything that your father and I have said?"

"Yes mother. We will be the well-behaved, _perfect_, little princesses that you've always wanted." And with that Edana got up from her spot and headed towards the kitchen to get some left over pizza from earlier that evening. She was soon followed by Hali who walked up to Edana and gave her a hug. Ever since they had discovered their powers together, it brought their relationship closer because the other knew exactly, to a point, what the other was going through. They were on their own when they went through their own personal "change". Life was complicated before the mutation and was now even more confusing.

"E. Everything's going to be okay. We always pull through somehow, don't we?"

"Yeah, but I'm so sick of being judged by everyone and then to come home and then to be judged by our parents. It's unfair. Our home should be our safety, not a place to keep our defenses up!" She broke down in tears and cried on her sister's shoulder. Hali made soothing sounds as she rubbed her sister's back, trying to calm her down before she blew up the stove again or the microwave that was cooking her pizza. Finally the tears subsided and Edana dried up her tears and her green eyes returned from the red flames. She grabbed her pizza from the microwave and started to chow down, again. Right then, their younger twin siblings, Dustin and Alyson, came bouncing down the stairs to get some snacks. Having two sets of twins in one home could get a little crowded but Edana and Hali loved them dearly and would never let anything bad happen to them. Both Dustin and Alyson had yet to show signs of any kind of mutation and that was a sigh of relief for E and Hali. They didn't want Dustin and Alyson to go through what they've been through. It was horrible and they wouldn't wish it on anyone. A few times Dustin would get angry at Edana and Hali for getting caught and forcing everyone to quit what sport they were into, school and work and uproot the family. In the last town was the longest they've ever stayed in one place. That was where Dustin and Alyson had made some friends and got involved in sports like soccer and ballet. And then Edana slipped and they had to move from the only place that seemed like a normal life to anyone.

Both Dustin and Alyson are 8 years old and are once again going through another growth spurt and eating everything in sight. Dustin walked into the kitchen and grabbed the pizza Edana was about to eat and ate it for himself. Edana shot him a look of disapproval but just smiled and shook her head.

"I guess I wasn't hungry after all!" she said. Everyone busted up laughing.

"Nope you weren't!" Dustin said with a mouth full of pizza.

Edana's POV

Four and a half years on the run will make any one grow up quickly. If only we could've controlled our powers earlier. Try meditating or something. I remember the day quite clearly the day that our parents kicked us out of the house at the age of 15. Hali and I were upstairs in our rooms, listening to music and working on some homework. We were the youngest juniors in the school but we couldn't help that we were a bit more intelligent than the others. Most of them were drug addicts anyways. Christmas break was slowly coming and we were writing out our lists of what we wanted. Snow was falling lightly just enough to cover the ground and put a chill to the bones. Of course, I wasn't cold at all and Hali is used to the cold.

"Hey, Hali. During the night we should go out and freeze the streets so we don't have school tomorrow! I can't seem to finish this essay and could use the extra day…" I said glancing up at her. We had always had the joke that we could use our powers to get out of school whenever we needed to, but we never seriously did anything dramatic, although we would have liked to. Before Hali could respond, we heard our dad coming up stairs and by the stomps of his feet we could tell that he was in no way happy.

"Girls!" he yelled outside of our door. "Get out here now!"

We shared a scared glance at each other. We both knew that it wasn't good. He usually sounded like this right before we move. I thought that we had done pretty good on keeping our powers in check. I opened the door and found my dad fuming, not literally, but still you could tell that he was extremely mad.

"What is it dad? We really have to finish our essays for English."

"What this is about is that someone slipped, AGAIN!" He was starting to scare me because his temper was extremely short. I hoped that the younger kids weren't here to witness what was going on right now. It might have scarred them badly.

"Dad, I swear that it wasn't me! Really! E, did you slip?" Hali pleaded. She had just made a few friends that I could talk to also. They were pretty cool kids and I could tell that Hali didn't want to move again. But I had to tell the truth to dad because otherwise we would be in a lot of danger.

"Dad, it wasn't me either. I've been keeping my temper down and have been more relaxed. Please! We can't move again! We like it here."

Dad visibly calmed down but I could tell that his mind was running a mile a minute. "No, you are right, Edana. We can't move again. Your mother is tired of running and so am I. Your little brother and sister can't keep living like this. It's not good for their minds and development."

"So what are we going to do, Dad?" I asked, almost scared of what he would say, but we would have never expected what he said.

"You two are going to stay with your grandmother in New York. She lives on the out skirts of Albany. Not as populated as the city. You two will be home schooled by her. She used to be a school teacher. I just got off the phone with her and she said that she would take you on if you work for her. I think that if you two did some work that it would do you two some good." And with that, he turned on his heel and started back down the stairs. "Oh, you need to be packed by the day after tomorrow." And he disappeared.

Shock had yet to settle in for me, but I noticed that Hali was really shaken up. We didn't even know our grandmother. My mother's parents died when we were children and yet we didn't even know them either. My dad's parents didn't like my mom and so when they married, that was the last time that dad had ever talked to them. I felt a chill sweep through the room and looked around; the room was one big freezer. All the walls had ice on them and icicles were hanging from the ceiling. Hali was in the corner, slowly letting a tear fall off her cheek before it froze and hit the floor and broke. I can't stand to see my sister in such distress like this, so I made the plans to get out of the house before our parents could do anything about it or send us to our mysterious grandmother. I took a deep breath and exhaled and walked around the room to thaw it out and to warm the place a bit. When I felt satisfied that the room was dry and warm, I turned to Hali.

"Hali, I don't know about you but I don't want to go to grandmother's house." I went into our closet and dragged out my back pack and dumped my school books out with the homework in it and grabbed my duffle bag.

"E. What are you doing?"

"What does it look like? I'm not staying here anymore. We are obviously a burden to everyone so why not just disappear to them. Let's get out of here Hali." I stopped packing some of my clothes and turned to face her. "Just you and me, a team. We can make it. We've saved enough money to get by until we can get jobs and support ourselves. Get our GED's and be done with school altogether. Come on, Hali. It's either me or grandmother who hates us." I left the decision up to her and went back to packing. I soon heard her grabbing her bags and dumping her books. Our parents would just have to deal with the school on getting their books back; it's no longer any of my concern. In less than an hour, we had all of our belongings that we couldn't live without. We quietly walked down the stairs and started walking towards the doors.

"Where do you think you're going?" our dad growled.

"We're leaving, just like you said. Just not on your terms." And with that I pushed Hali out the door. I've never known my dad to be abusive but for some reason he didn't seem to be his normal self. He grabbed my arm and slapped me across my face, leaving a handprint on my left cheek. That was when I lost my temper and slapped him back. I could feel my eyes flaming up and when I slapped him, his skin caught on fire. The smell of burning flesh rose into the air. Hali witnessed it all and turned dad's head into a popsicle with icicles hanging off his nose.

"Come on E! He'll be waking up soon. Let's just leave before he gets you again!"

I could hear the distress again and so I grabbed my bags and we ran out the door. I knew of some wooded areas that we could sleep for the night until we could get out of town. It was almost 10:30 at night and the temperature was dropping fast, not that it bothered me at all or anything.

Well, that was four and a half years ago and we did make it. We both have our GED's and both have our own cars. Hali's is light blue with snow flakes coming back from the front fenders. Mine is cherry red with orange flames coming back from the front fenders. We heard from Dustin and Alyson that grandmother died not too long after we were supposed to arrive. Dustin and Alyson have cell phones now and we are able to talk to them whenever we want as the same for them on our cells.

My stomach is starting to growl. It should, I didn't eat any breakfast and it's getting on to about 2 o'clock.

"Flux, let's go to the food court and get some grub!" I grabbed her and started to lead her out of the store.

"Ah, but Blaze, they're having an awesome sale! What if someone takes my shirt that I want?"

"Then it wasn't meant to be." I smiled at her. Just then her stomach growled louder than I've ever heard it. "Food is on your top priority instead of that shirt!" I joked and we both laughed. We haven't gone by our birth names since we left. I now go by Blaze meaning flame, duh, or friction since I can create flame. Hali now goes by Flux meaning discharge of liquid. We passed by an exhibit on the Neanderthal history, which I thought was kind of cool since they thought that they were mutants, too. I saw a field trip group from some school listening to one of their teachers. I never got to experience any kind of field trip because we moved so much, so I stopped to listen to the teacher. Flux saw what I was looking at and understood why I had stopped. I looked over the student body and saw a little girl holding her mom's hand, eating an ice cream cone staring at another boy from the school. The little girl stuck her tongue at him and he returned her gesture, but his tongue was long, blue and split like a lizard's. Before she could approach the boy, her stomach growled again and Flux pulled on her arm.

"Come on Blaze. We're both hungry and we can come back once we're done eating." And she started heading back to the food court.

'Is that boy a mutant? And he's still among the class of normal children?' As I started to walk away I heard the teacher scold him, "Not here," she said with a shake of her head. 'So the teacher knows about the mutation and she's okay with it? The kids didn't look at all scared that this boy had a lizard tongue!'

"Blaze! Come on! I'm extremely hungry!" Flux said dragging me to the food court by my arm.

We finally got our food and sat down to eat.

"Hey do you have a light?" two okay looking guys came up to our table, holding a cigarette.

"No, sorry. Don't smoke. This guy next to us has a lighter though. Try them." I said pointing to the threesome group at the next table.

"Okay, thanks." He said and winked at me.

"Ah, Blaze, you do know that you control flames right? You two could've hit it off."

"Oh yeah? Now tell me Flux, where would I explain where the flame came from? My finger?"

She giggled, "Maybe…" Flux was always more the innocent type and when we ran away, she lost that innocence, but sometimes she liked to get back into the innocence groove.

"Well, are you done? I'm ready to leave." I asked Flux.

"Yeah, let me finish my Chalupa." She said, stuffing her face and swallowing the last part down.

"My brother asked you a simple question."

"Why are you being such a dick?"

"Yeah, why are you being such a dick?"

"Because I can." The guy sitting at the table with the lighter laughed. His two friends laughed with him, I could tell that it was just his personality and that they were used to it or they were getting very tired of it.

"Can I have a light?" the second guy asked.

The guy sitting down flicked open the lighter, "Hmmm….sorry can't help you out, pal." And snapped the lighter closed.

'Man that guy is a jerk!' I thought.

"John, knock it off." The girl sitting with them said.

"Why don't you stop showing off." The other guy sitting with John and the girl said.

"What for her?" John asked, "I can't help it if your girlfriend's excited."

"I don't think she's excited."

"We're trying to have a good time."

"I think you're the only one having a good time."

The guy impatiently waiting for a light got tired of waiting and grabbed the lighter from John.

"Hey!" he got up and tried to grab for his lighter but the guy's brother stopped in front of him. "That's real cute, man"

"What are you gonna do?" he said as he lit his cigarette and exhaled smoke. John chuckled an evil laugh. "Suddenly, you're not so tough." He said before he took another drag. John winked at the guy and fire shot out of his cigarette and into his lungs. The guy fell down with his sleeve on fire as John was laughing at him. Just then, the boy that was sitting with John stood up and blew ice and cold air over the fire. Once the fire was out, everyone froze, everyone but the mutants.

"Bobby, what did you do?"

"I didn't do this." He silently said.

"No. I did." A man in a wheelchair rolled up to the small group. "And the next time you feel like showing off, don't."

In the background the news was still running from the TV's in the food court saying that there was a mutant attack on the President earlier today.

"Blaze, I think it's time to go."

"Yeah me, too." And we walked unnoticed out of the mall. When we reached our cars, we noticed a bus that the mutants were loading. "Flux, follow me."

When the bus took off, I followed it, all the way to Westchester to a school called, Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters.

'Come in.' I stopped my car outside the gates. I looked around. No one was out in the yard or in the streets. Where was that voice coming from? It was all starting to creep me out. 'Come in. It's alright.'

For some reason, against my better judgment, I got out of my car and started to walk up to the front door. "Blaze! Where are you going? You can't just walk into some strange school!" Flux was yelling after me then suddenly stopped. "Blaze? Did you hear that voice? Please tell me you did because I can't be going insane. We might have a blizzard."

"Flux, I did hear that voice. It's the same voice I heard at the mall. I'm going to check it out." I slowly approached the front door and it opened to reveal the man in the wheelchair.

"So glad you decided to join me. My name is Charles Xavier and I run this school. I think you'll like what you see. Flux, please follow me too."

'What is this place?' I asked myself.


	2. Let's get started

Chapter 2

"This is a school for mutants who were sent here or are runaways like you two. I felt your presence in the shopping mall and I saw you sneak out after what John and Bobby did in the food court. Flux, you need not to be reluctant. You two are safe here from the outside world until you are ready to face it again." He stopped and turned to face the two of us.

"How did you read my mind?" I asked.

"Yeah mine too?" Flux asked.

"I have telekinetic and telepathic abilities. I am a mutant like you two. Everyone here is a mutant or has some "special" power. I bring people here where I can help them control and excel their powers." He turned back around and wheeled himself into some sort of office. "This is my office and I would like you to meet some of our teachers here." He said as a few people came walking through the office doors after us. I saw them at the mall and now it was starting to make sense. "Blaze, Flux, this is Dr. Jean Grey, our science teacher. Scott Summers, or Cyclops, is our Math teacher. Ororo Munroe, or Storm, is our History and English teacher. Logan, or Wolverine, here is our gym teacher. And I teach Physics and English."

They all nodded their heads and shook our hands.

"Now it makes more sense!"

"What?" asked Storm.

"Why no one freaked out when the little boy stuck his tongue out and no one was scared."

"Artie? I didn't think that anyone saw that. He's learning to hide his tongue but it's taking some time." She smiled back.

There was a knock on the office door. "Rogue and Bobby please come in. I'd like you to meet Edana and Hali, or Blaze and Flux."

My eyes popped out, as did Flux's. 'How did you know our real names?'

"I know everything having to do with a mutant that comes to my school or comes in contact with me." He replied slowly.

"Hey! You're the two girls from the mall!" Rogue piped up. "It's good to meet you." She said as she extended her gloved hand for mine.

"Yeah same." Bobby said extending his hand. Both me and Flux shook their hands and stood in awkward silence.

"Rogue and Bobby, please give Edana and Hali a tour of our school. I think they might enjoy what they see." Professor Xavier finally said after a beat of silence. I could feel him searching inside my brain for answers or was he asking questions?

'Does he expect us to stay forever? Why are we touring a school we just arrived at? This is all too fast!'

'Calm down Edana. I'm just showing you that there is a safe haven here. A place that you don't have to put up your defenses.'

_Defenses_, I remembered saying that at our last home that I shared with my family as a whole. Now it's just me and Flux, and now possibly this place with these strangers.

'Do you ever get in trouble for searching in people's brains if they don't want you to?' I thought.

'Sometimes, but there's not much they can do, now is there?'

I chuckled, 'No, I guess not.'

Flux looked at me weird. I had just chuckled at a conversation that no one else had heard. I felt a little embarrassed, but what could I do about it?

"Rogue, what's your power?" Flux asked.

"I barrow people's energies and on mutants, I barrow their powers but I can also kill them if I wanted to."

"Cool. What about you Bobby?" Flux asked.

"I'm also known as IceMan because, well…I think it's self-explanatory."

"Really!"

"Yeah. What about you two?"

"Well, as the Professor said, I go by Blaze. I create friction and start my own flame and control it." I answered.

"I pull water vapor from the air and freeze or soak anything." Flux replied. She was obviously excited about someone with a similar power as her. I think she was more excited to actually meet another mutant besides me. We both knew that there were other mutants out there, but they were hidden so well or you couldn't tell the difference between them and a normal human.

We stayed at the school for a few days and a lot had happened in the past few days. Intruders came into this home, kidnapped a few kids by a man named Stryker and the rest of us ran away through secret tunnels, led by a guy named Hank. We stayed hidden for a day or two to make sure that no one was still there. We arrived back and got a call from Jean and Storm saying that they were in Boston, heading to Alkali Lake in Canada and should be back soon. If only we would have known that, that would be the last time we would be able to talk to Jean. The X-Men came back two days later, minus Jean. Everyone was in a mood of depression, which was totally understandable. Wolverine became extremely moody, Cyclops spend most of the days in his room, moping about. Professor spent a lot of time in his office, not wanting to be disturbed, claiming he had a headache.

Flux and I were sitting in the TV room, reading magazines after lunch. One of the boys was flipping through the channels by blinking his eyes, which I thought was cool, but something on the news caught my eye. It was on a mutant. "Wait! Go back to the news real quick!"

The boy turned and looked at me like I was insane, but he complied and changed the channel to the news.

"Today a young boy caused destruction in a public school today. Students and faculty evacuated the vicinity before bodily harm could be on them. One student said that the boy known as Dustin McHill sneezed and lightning struck the teacher, sending her into shock. It was obvious that he is a mutant and should be approached with caution. We have footage of him and a young girl said to be his twin sister running away from the scene of the crime. Let's watch." The anchor faded away and Flux and I watched our little brother and sister running away from a burning building. Electricity was moving all over his body and he was running at incredible speeds. He was dragging Alyson behind him, trying to keep up with him. From the looks of it, they were running for cover in the woods. Wasting no time, I grabbed my cell phone and dialed up Dustin's number.

"Hello?" He didn't sound winded at all. As if all of that running hadn't affected him.

"Dustin? Are you okay? This is Blaze. You are on the news. Where are you two?"

"Blaze, calm down. We're okay for now. I'm in the area you told us about when you two ran away." He paused for a minute and I could hear the worry behind his voice. "Edana, what's happening to me? Alyson doesn't look too good either. What's going on?"

"Dustin, I want you to sit tight. Flux and I are on our way right now. We're going to pick you guys up. I think these people I'm with can help you guys. Just hide your self and don't move!" and I hung up.

"Blaze! What's going on? Where are they?" Flux was firing questions at me before I could even answer the first one.

"We need to leave right now! We have to go pick them up right now. They are at our old campsite. We need to get to them before the police do." I grabbed my purse, jacket and keys and started to head for the door.

'_Where do you think you two are going?'_

We turned around and found Professor wheeling up from behind us. "We have to go get our little brother and sister."

"No. I'll send a few of the X-Men to get them. They don't understand their powers and they need someone to help them control them until they get back."

"But I think we'll be okay Professor. Really. We just need to leave right now!" Flux tried to assure Xavier, but it didn't do any good.

"I'm sending Logan and Storm to bring them back. You can see them when they return."

"You called Chuck?" Logan and Ororo walked up behind us.

'Chuck?' I thought.

"Yes. It's quite annoying after a while. So informal…" Professor muttered.

It has only been a few hours but it might as well been a few years. What is taking them so long? I had been in my room, my first room by myself and was all fire proof, pacing the floor not knowing what to do with myself. Finally giving in, I went downstairs into the kitchen, deciding that I was hungry since I haven't eaten in 14 hours. Something cold sounded good. My nerves were tweaking and little flames were bursting on the floor. At one point, my sleeve caught on fire. I walked into the kitchen and opened the freezer.

"You want a sundae?"

I turned and found Scott sitting at the island with a long face. "Yeah sure. Thanks." I grabbed an extra spoon and sat down next to him. "Scott, are you okay?" He had been mostly to himself and depressed since Jean died. I don't blame him, he was in love with her, engaged to her, and watched her died because he couldn't save her.

"I'll be okay. I don't really want to talk about it."

"Okay. That's fine." And we dug into our sundaes.

"So I hear that your little brother and sister are going to stay with us. Professor said that I need to take over his classes so he can work with them more." He looked over at me. "You miss them don't you." I had missed them. I felt bad about leaving them alone with our parents when we left, but it was for the good of them.

"Yeah, I do. I'm nervous about their powers. I should've known it would've happened to them too. We could've taken them with us but we didn't." Scott was about to say something but his phone started to ring.

"Hello? Yeah she's here. Yeah in the TV room. Okay. We'll be here ready for them. Okay." He hung up the phone and looked over at me again. "Well, I need to get in the lab. Your brother and sister are on their way." He smiled and walked away. The first time he has smiled in a while.

I took off on a search for Flux to let her know. "Blaze! Dustin and Alyson are on their way!"

"Wait! How do you know?"

"The professor just told me. They'll be here in a few minutes!" and she took off for the elevator.

"Wait for me Flux!" I ran to keep up.

'Where could they be?' It has been at least an hour since Scott received the phone call and Storm and Logan have yet to return.

'Patience Edana. They'll soon be here quick enough. We don't know what's going on.'

'You do know that sometimes I think to _myself_ right?'

'Yes but it was a question you've been asking for the past hour, so I thought I might answer it so you'd stop worrying.' Professor chuckled.

"Here they come." Professor announced just as the elevator doors opened. Storm and Logan were carrying both bodies, well one was visible and the other not. Logan had Dustin's unconscious body and laid him down while Storm was carrying what I could only assume was Alyson's body.

"Sorry we're a little delayed, but we had some company." Wolverine half way explained. "Knew the party wouldn't start without us being there."

Once Storm and Logan set Dustin and Alyson down on the tables Flux and I ran to them, well tried. "No! I want to see them. Let us go Professor!" He had stopped us telekinetically.

"No, right now your brother and sister need our help. I want you two to go outside and wait in the hall." And moved us out the door and shut the door in our faces.

'Professor, it's been an hour! I want to see Dustin and Aly! Please, let us in!'

The door opened up and the professor rolled out. "Girls, your brother and sister have been through a lot of stress here recently and it's taking us longer than we expected. We finally got Alyson calmed down enough that she would become visible and it would be easier to help her that way. By tomorrow morning, I believe that they should be up and running around and you can see them." He said looking at us both in the eyes.

"I'm not leaving Professor. I'll wait." Flux said, surprising me that she could be stubborn, but of course she could've gotten that from me.

"I would suggest that the both of you go to sleep though." And he turned and went back into the lab, shutting the door behind him.

I can't remember how long we sat there at the lab doors, but the next thing I do remember was being carried by someone strong. I zoned out and felt the softness of my pillows beneath my head. I looked up and saw Logan leave my room, quietly closing the door behind him, and everything went black.

Logan's POV

We had finally got Alyson to relax and become visible. It was creepy watching Storm and Chuck working on air. Just moving their arms around. It was getting late and the kids were sleeping quietly. They would pull out of this quickly. Kids rebound quick, right? I don't know, never was one to like kids. They smell, they are loud and annoying and ask too many questions. But there was something different about these two. I couldn't put my finger on it. Three eyes and me finished up on Dustin and left the lab. Out in the hall, Blaze and Flux were asleep, leaning on each other's shoulders. They looked kinda cute, but there was something about Blaze that had me curious about her. Scott came up behind me. "We can't leave them here all night." He said to me. He started to go to pick up Blaze, but I reached her first. He gave a look and shook his head and went to pick up Flux. 'Does he feel something for her? He had gotten Jean, I won't let him take Blaze. Wait! What was that all about? Ownership all of a sudden? That's not my style, but I'll worry about it later.' She started to wake up but she fell back asleep. I opened her door and felt a little weird walking into her room. I laid her down and pulled the sheets over her. 'God she's beautiful.'

Narrator's POV

Blaze woke up with a crick in her neck. How did she get into her bed? Then she remembered Logan bringing her here. There was something about him that she liked about him. She couldn't put her finger on it though. Her stomach growled loudly. She decided that breakfast could be a good thing. She walked down the stairs and walked into the kitchen. Logan looked up from his eggs and bacon he was frying. She mumbled a good morning and he nodded. "Hungry?" He said looking up at her. She looked in the fridge and then back at him and nodded.

"Where's Flux?"

"She's with one of the students. Watching tv I think." Logan said cracking two more eggs into the pan and adding more slices of bacon. He set out an extra plate and fork as she sat on a stool at the island.

"How are you doing?" He looked up at her, not quite understanding her question but having a hunch.

"I really don't want to talk about it." He growled.

"Sorry." She growled back. She grabbed her plate and orange juice and sat out on the back porch.

He grabbed his plate and coffee and sat in the TV room to watch Saturday morning cartoons with the other kids. 'So much for breakfast for two.'

Flux was teaching a girl named Veronica, one not to get on her bad side because she controls nightmares and has some telekinesis. She was only five but she could do some damage. Veronica was having some trouble with adding and subtracting and her class was now learning how to multiply and divide and she was falling behind.

"Five plus six is….." she waited for Nightmare answer.

"Umm…. Eleven?"

"Yeah that's right! You're getting it!" she hugged the young child. "I'll write out some more problems that you can do and then I'll check them okay?"

"Okay!" delight in her voice that someone was not too busy for her to get some help. Flux gave her twenty problems and told her to find her when she was finished.

'_Hali, please come to my office.'_ She hated it when he did that. Creeps her out.

"Hali, come in." She entered and sat down in one of the chairs in front of his desk.

"Yes?"

"We have a little situation. Scott and I have to go out on a mission and I noticed how well you are with the kids. I was hoping you could take over the math classes for Scott while he's away."

"Of course I can. I love math. The only course I really understood, except science."

"Okay, well we're leaving early in the morning. School starts at 7:45 and breakfast is at 6:45. I'll have Scott get some papers for you to give the students."

"Okay." Flux got up and wandered out into the hall. 'Where is Blaze?' She hadn't seen her all morning. She looked around in the TV room, but she wasn't there.

"Blaze is out on the back porch." Logan said.

"What, do you have telepathic abilities too?" He smirked and shook his head.

She walked out onto the patio and found Blaze curled up on one of the benches, watching the sunrise, or what was left of it. Blaze scooted over and let Flux sit down.

"I have some good news!"

"Hm…"

"I'm going to be the math teacher for a few days, until Professor and Scott get back from a mission or something like that. Isn't that cool?"

"Yeah Flux. Congrats, I think. But-"

'Edana, may I see you in my office?'

"Ummm… Flux, I'll be right back." She got up and went in. She slowly opened the office door and walked in. Professor was sitting at his desk, filling out some forms.

"Please, come in and sit down." He gestured to the chairs in front of his desk.

"You wanted to see me?"

"I thought since your sister had a 'job' or was teaching that I could give you the same opportunity." Blaze nodded. "How would you like to be our art teacher?"

"Art? I'm good, but not that good. Not good enough to teach."

"Well, I've seen your work and I think you are excellent, but I won't force you to teach something you're not comfortable with or if you don't even want to teach at all." He started to swiftly read her mind, but she felt him and shot him a glare of disapproval. "But I know that you really want to teach. It's up to you. Flux starts tomorrow and hopefully you will too. Until you make up your mind, I have a little surprise for you and Flux." Just then Flux walked through the office doors.

"You called?" she said smiling.

"Yes, follow me down stairs." Blaze and Flux looked at each other.

When the elevator doors opened, they saw Scott and Storm and Logan walk out of the labs and behind them were Dustin and Alyson, breaking through the wall of adults and rushed Blaze and Flux.

"Oh my god! Don't scare us like that! You had us worried last night." Blaze said as she picked up Dustin and held him in her arms. He might have been 12 ½ but he was smaller and light so Blaze could still hold him up off the ground. Flux picked Alyson up off the ground as she wrapped her legs around her sister's waist and wrapping her arms around Flux's neck, hanging on her dear life.

"Alyson, it's okay. Everything is okay now. You're safe. No one is going to hurt either one of you." And Alyson started to cry into Flux's shoulder as did Dustin.

"Don't leave us again! Please don't leave us!" Dustin cried out.

"We won't leave you ever again. We're so sorry."

The whole team was watching their little reunion and Flux and Blaze comforting them by making soothing sounds and swaying gently. Finally they quieted down only because they fell asleep, which was okay, they needed their sleep and they had been extremely stressed out these past few days.

Professor cleared his throat and Flux and Blaze looked up at him with tears in their eyes. "We have set up rooms for them with some other students. But I think it's best if they weren't around the students just yet." Blaze nodded.

"We're going to put them in our rooms for now until they wake up." She said wiping away a rebellious tear that fell. Professor just nodded and the two girls walked away, back to the elevator.


	3. Late Nights

Chapter 3

"_But everything inside you_

_Knows there's more than what you've heard_

_There's so much more than empty conversations_

_Filled with empty words."_

_ "On Fire" by Switchfoot_

They looked like little angels lying next to each other while sleeping. They both have blonde hair and blue eyes with little button noses. Blaze would have to ask them about what's been going on at home, but that would have to wait until later. Tomorrow, they would start schooling here. So, maybe they are here to stay. Maybe teaching wouldn't be so bad. She must admit that she did love to draw and paint, pottery was extremely fun and so was charcoal. She went down the hall to the professor's door and knocked on it.

"Come in."

"Professor, I've made up my mind. I would like to teach art to the students. And if it wouldn't be too much, I think we would love to stay on and teach while living here."

"I would love for all of you to stay on and hopefully Dustin and Alyson would like to stay on as well after they graduate. But that's a few years away."

"Yeah don't rush that on me!" Blaze laughed and Professor joined in with her.

She left that office feeling good and with a smile on her face. She hadn't smiled a genuine smile in a long while. Walking through the house to find Flux, she finally found her in the kitchen eating some yogurt.

"Guess what!" Blaze said jumping into the kitchen with a huge smile on her face.

"What?" Flux said with a mouth full of yogurt.

"We are now officially teachers and residents of Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters!"

"We live here now?" she said standing up with a smile on her face now.

"Yup!" Flux squealed and started jumping up and down.

"We should go shopping! Start over with new clothes and a new style!" Flux said. The idea was great but where would they come up with that kind of money?

"I heard the good news you two!" Storm said walking into the kitchen. "And I did happen to overhear a shopping spree idea…" she looked between the two of them, " and I think it's a great idea! We can go in an hour, how does that sound?" she looked at them again, smiling.

"Sounds awesome but can Dustin and Alyson come with us. They have no clothes of theirs here." Blaze said.

"Yeah. In that case, we'll need to caravan out to the mall because I don't think that all of us can fit in one car, legally." She smiled.

"I'll go get the kids ready! I can't wait!" Flux said as she left the kitchen to go round up the kids.

"I heard the word 'shopping'. Don't leave me out of this!" Rogue said walking into the kitchen as Flux was leaving.

"Aren't you supposed to be in class right now?" Storm asked.

"Well, yeah, but I'm getting supplies for a project. But please! You can excuse me, right?"

Storm sighed. "Okay, I'll talk to the professor and we'll see what he thinks. But if he says no, then you have to go back to class, no argument."

"Okay, deal." She smiled and went to go ask the professor with Storm, leaving Blaze in the kitchen alone. She picked up the yogurt container that Flux was eating and looked at the flavor, 'Strawberry and Banana'. Not her favorite but it still tastes good enough to eat. She finished off the yogurt by the time that Flux came back with Dustin and Alyson.

"I didn't tell them what we're doing yet. I want it to be a surprise." Flux informed Blaze.

"Ohh…well then I suggest you two go get ready and wear your walking shoes and not so much clothes." Blaze said and the two nodded and went off. They had just woken up from their exhausting sleep. They still had their bed head hair which was going every which way but down. Blaze walked out to the back patio and watched a soccer game that was going on for gym class. Logan was sitting on a bench, all sweaty and exhausted.

"Rough day?" Blaze asked sitting next to him as he took a chug of water.

"Just a little. Played soccer every hour so far but it's now" he looked at his watch, "Holy shit, forth hour. I'm beat." He laid his head back and grabbed his hand towel and wiped off his face. They sat there in silence, watching the students play soccer, for a long time. Finally class was almost over and Storm stepped outside telling Blaze that they were leaving in five minutes.

"Where are you guys going?" Logan asked raising an eyebrow towards her.

"Girls day out. Well half a day. Storm is taking us out to buy new clothes for Dustin, Alyson, and us two. I think Rogue wants to come, but I don't know what the professor said." She returned looking at him, holding his gaze. He seemed satisfied with that answer and nodded and got up to tell his class that they needed to end the game and shake hands and get cleaned up before coming in the house. She got up and went inside, got her jacket and purse with her keys and headed for the door.

Dustin and Flux were waiting in her car when she walked outside. Storm stepped out into the garage, as Blaze reached her car, followed by Rogue and Alyson. Rogue seemed taken by Alyson. She was fascinated with Rogue and her abilities. They reached the mall in record timing. Hitting the main department stores, each of them managed to spend at least $500 on their wardrobe. Of course to top it all off, they all got a new style of hair cut. Flux had her hair layered all around and some highlights, Blaze trimmed her hair so it reached her shoulder blades and got it tapered and layered. Dustin had a bowl haircut before so they cut it all off short and had it spiked with blue gel. Alyson had long and gorgeous hair but she cut it to her shoulder blades, since it was down to her butt before, and had it curled. Rogue and Storm turned down a hair cut and style but they did throw in their opinions on hair styles for the girls and Rogue helped Dustin pick out the color of gel and bought a bottle of it for him. By the time that night rolled around, all of them had at least five bags to carry back to the car since the mall was closing. Feeling pleased with the day, they decided to call it a night. They all had a new wardrobe and a new style in hair and clothing. Before Flux and Blaze would wear any kind of clothing they could get their hands on, which was mostly men's clothes because it was somewhat cheaper and you could buy it by the bulk. Now they all had the newest style out and could look feminine again.

Nightcrawler about had a heart attack when he saw Dustin's blue hair. He thought that he had done something to the boy. They all laughed and Rogue explained that it was just gel and that it would wash out when he showered.

"Dustin and Alyson, I think you need to go upstairs and get ready for bed because tomorrow you two are going to school. Okay?"

They nodded and said thank you to Storm and Rogue and Blaze and Flux led them upstairs to the dorms that they would be sleeping in. This would be the first place that they would be sleeping apart but it needed to start sometime because Alyson would want her privacy soon. Once they were situated and had fallen asleep Flux decided to go to bed and that they would see each other in the morning, but Blaze was hungry and headed down to the kitchen. Logan was heating up some pizza in the oven when she walked in.

"Miss dinner?" She asked, nodding towards the oven.

"No, kids ate it all before I got to it. It was only Kurt and me in charge. What about you?"

"Too busy shopping and trying on clothes. I'm starving." And to add emphasis, her stomach growled loudly. "Extremely hungry." He looked at her and smirked. "Here let me help." She said grabbing the pizza back out of the oven. She held the pizza in her left hand and had her right hand opened flat underneath where she felt the heat building up and evenly cooked the pizza faster than it would've took with the oven. Within a few minutes the pizza was done and Logan was cutting it with the pizza cutter.

He lifted an eyebrow, "Where did you learn to do that?"

"Living on the road, you learn to cook with what you've got."

He looked her up and down, "Yeah I know how that goes. So…" he faded out the conversation while taking a bite of his pizza. "I heard that you guys are staying for good. Glad to have you on board."

She smiled at him, "Yeah, I don't think it has sunken in yet that we're staying. I need to go into town tomorrow and get some art supplies for the class that I am teaching. I can't wait to get started." She said finished off her pizza.

"So, you and Flux are going to be teaching." Blaze nodded. "Are you guys going to join the X-Men?" She stopped eating.

"I don't know. I really haven't thought about it. I don't know if I'm cut out for it."

"Oh, you are. Trust me, you are. You should think about it. You should join though."

"Really? Why do you say that?"

He shrugged. "We could use a cook onboard with us." He laughed.

She glared at him and his sleeve caught on fire. "Oh really?"

"Hey! I was just kidding!" He was hitting himself trying to get the flames out. He sounded sincere so she drew the flames to her and away from his shirt and into her hand where she smothered it with her palm. "You should join because of that temper of yours." He shook his head in disbelief, "Man!" He picked up another slice of pizza and ate in silence. She felt a little guilty for setting his shirt on fire, but not too much. Using her powers had dehydrated her and she was parched.

'A cold diet pop sounds really good right now. I'm just too tired to get up, _open the fridge and bring it back to me._'

"Whoa! How'd you do that?" Logan leaned back away from Blaze.

"Do what?" He was starting to worry her.

"The pop!" he gestured to the pop sitting in front of her that was not there before. The fridge door was still sitting wide open.

'Who left the door open? It needs to _stay closed._' She heard a thump and realized that the fridge had closed by itself. "Well that's weird." She said out loud.

"No, that's not weird. Blaze I think you have telekinesis powers also. Try to move the fork and you'll see." He set out a fork on the counter.

'Well it would be really cool if it would _move_.' Just then the fork hit her hand that was rested on the counter, too. She jumped back in her seat a bit, "Omigod omigod omigod! It touched my hand! This is too much, I can't handle this!" She started to sit, but there wasn't a chair to land in. But a chair had moved up under her just in time for her to sit with a thud.

Logan chuckled a bit, "You need to relax. You're too stressed. Do some yoga or whatever you girls do to relax." He waved his hand in front of his face.

"Well usually we go shopping or eat a pint of ice cream but one of them seems to have caused the stress. So try again." She said glaring up at him. 'How dare he say that I'm too stressed. I am not stressed! I'm perfectly fine! No, stress in my life. Ahh, who am I kidding? I'm stressed out!' She let out a sigh of frustration. He had caught her glare and saw that she wasn't calm right now. 'About what? A new discovery of another power? Wow!' He looked around to see if any one was coming. The clock read 10:30 so most people were asleep since lights out was at 10. Cracking his knuckles he walked behind her and moved her hair off her neck and back. 'Looks shorter and lighter. Ororo at work again. The stylist of the team.' He smiled and shook his head again.

"What are you doing?" Blaze broke him out of his train of thought.

"I'm trying again. I know this morning I was a little bit of a …"

"Jerk." She finished for him. He nodded in sarcasm

"Yeah, a jerk. Anyways, I think a massage would do you some good."

"From you?"

"No, the dog next door. Yes me. Now just relax." He started massaging her shoulders and neck, slowly moving down her spine. He thoroughly worked out all the knots that were in her muscles, which there were a lot. By the time he finished, she had fallen into a peaceful sleep, sitting up. He looked around again and saw no one who was coming or in the TV room. All was quiet for the first time in a long time. He swiftly picked her up and for the second time, carried her to her room. He laid her down and tucked her under the covers. Her room smelled like lilac and the essence filled his senses that drove him nuts. As he started to leave, she stirred and opened her eyes.

"How come this always happens?"

"I don't know. If you could keep your eyes open long enough, you could probably walk yourself to bed."

She threw him a lazy smile. "Where did you learn to massage people to sleep?"

He shrugged, "Just happened." He smiled back at her. Tempted to stay but he just nodded and walked out of the room and shut the door behind him. 'A cold shower is in dire need right now.' He thought to himself.

She watched him walk out of her room. A sigh of frustration escaped her lips. He just started to show emotion towards her that wasn't hostile and he walked away. Maybe it's only a one sided relationship she's thinking of. Ever since he started to talk to her, she was fascinated with him. She was falling for him. But he obviously didn't feel the same way or maybe she was jumping into it. Her head started to hurt and she couldn't go to sleep. She rolled around for an hour and still couldn't get to sleep. She went down stairs again and took a NightQuil and went back upstairs. She passed Logan's room on the way to her room. His light was on behind his closed door. She sighed and continued to her room. She left the lights off and opened her window and sat in the windowsill. The stars were shining brightly tonight. The end of May was coming and summer was creeping up. Her and Flux's birthday was coming up too. What were they going to do this year? Last year, they saw a movie and went out to eat. They'll be turning 21 within weeks. If only she could spend it with Logan, but who was she kidding. He'll be leaving within a few days to go into the city and won't be back for a month. Rogue had filled her in on his schedule while shopping. Rogue had also mentioned the Danger Room. She'd have to have Rogue or Bobby show her what's in it. She leaned against the frame and breathed in the warm air with a cool breeze.

He just got out of his cold shower and wrapped his towel around his waist. He heard someone coming up the stairs. He saw their feet beneath the door stop in front of his room. A draft came from out in the hall, it was Blaze. She was still awake. He opened his window and sat on the window sill, resting his head on the frame staring up at the stars. The only true thing that could clear his mind, but he wouldn't let anyone know that. He had to keep up his reputation. He glanced out and over to Blaze's window. He could see her doing the same thing. How funny that they have so much in common. He smirked, shook his head and turned out the lights. Draping the towel over a chair and crawling underneath the covers, he lied awake and listened next door to what Blaze was doing. His eyes growing heavy, he finally went to sleep.

He heard his door click shut and concealing darkness once again. He sat up with the sheets gathering around his waist. He sniffed, Blaze. She crawled up the bed and sat straddled on his lap. "Look Blaze…" She silenced him with her lips as her hands grabbed both sides of his face and ran her fingers through his hair. Kissing her back he wrapped his arms around her waist. Lifting her arms up, he pulled her shirt up and tossed it to the floor as the same with her shorts. He smiled and sighed when he discovered that nothing was under either item of clothing. Leaning back, he pulled her down over him and pulling the sheets over them as he reclaimed her lips with his.

He sat up in the middle of the night. He looked around to see if Blaze was there or if it was just a dream. Finding his room empty, he huffed and pulled himself up out of bed. He was losing it. He went into the bathroom and turned on the cold water in the shower. It was 5:00 and might as well get up to get ready for school. He stood under the spray for half an hour and finally decided that he was hungry after his stomach growled at him.

Drying off, he walked out and got dressed. Guess he could start to cook breakfast for everyone. Walking down to the kitchen he turned on the light, but the switch flicked off when he turned his back to it. He reached over and turned it back on but the light flicked off again. "Leave it off. I have a headache and we're out of Tylenol so if we could just leave the lights off." He turned and saw Blaze sitting at the island nursing a tall glass of orange juice.

"Rough night?" He smirked over at her.

"Couldn't get back to sleep. NightQuil didn't even do anything. So I'm a little grumpy right now."

"Well you can't be grumpy forever. You have a class to start in a few hours." Opening the fridge, he grabbed the carton of eggs and the slab of bacon and ham, popping toast into the toaster.

"I don't think I'm going to start today, maybe tomorrow. I don't even have any art supplies and I don't even have a room yet. I think I'll be getting ready today and starting tomorrow. That sounds wonderful." She chuckled and chugged down her orange juice.

Logan chuckled, too. "Headache, huh? Where?"

She pointed to the back of her skull and on her temples. 'It's too early for anyone to be up. Why not?' She looked up at him, "Can you work your magic again please?" she begged.

He smiled and nodded walking around behind her and started to massage the base of her skull, slowly moving up to her temples. Her head slowly moving underneath his hands, she moaned as she felt the tension being released and her head feeling lighter and lighter.

He heard footsteps coming closer to the kitchen so he dropped his hands and walked back to the eggs and bacon. Ororo walked in the kitchen and grabbed a coffee mug from the cabinet. Blaze looked up to find out what made Logan stop and found Ororo pouring a cup of coffee. 'Has to uphold a reputation I guess.' She snorted and put her head down on the island. "Hungry?" Logan asked Storm. "Nah. Not really. Thanks" she nodded and left the room. Blaze lifted her head off the counter and raised an eyebrow at Logan. He just shrugged and offered her a plate, which she took gladly. She looked at her glass, empty. She decided to exercise her telekinesis for a bit. She pulled the drawer open and pulled out a fork and brought it over to her. Next she opened the fridge and pulled out the orange juice and brought it also to the island. She poured the orange juice and put it back in the fridge, closing it behind the juice.

"Guess you're used to using your powers, huh?" Logan said as he paused in fixing his own plate.

"I guess you could say that." They finished up breakfast in silence, occasionally having a short meaningless conversation. When they finished, Blaze gathered both of their plates and rinsed them off before placing them in the dishwasher. "Thanks for breakfast Logan. It was really good." She nodded and walked out of the kitchen, getting dressed and getting ready to go shopping for her class. She planned out her day. She would buy her shopping supplies in the morning when the stores opened so there wouldn't be a crowd, then come home for lunch and locate the room where she would be teaching. Maybe she should do that first. 'Maybe I should find Storm first.' Off she went to find her.

The room was huge. It had one wall of windows that faced the backyard where all of the fields were. Gym was being held, basketball her favorite sport. She played a little in High School and was excellent. She was also an all-star at softball. She would have to push for a game for students against faculty. The room was wide and there was enough space to have room between the desks. The floor was stadium platforms, layering the students so it would be easier to teach. She sat down on the long bench windowsill watching the basketball game while making a list of everything that she needed. Feeling satisfied with her list, she headed off to some hobby stores and to the mall.

Flux walked into the classroom where she would be substituting for Scott. Math. She looked around the room and saw that the class was mostly younger students. On the desk was a schedule of the classes of the day. _1st hour- multiplying and dividing, 2nd hour- problem solving/ word problems, 3rd hour- break/ lunch, 4th hour- Pre- Algebra and Algebra 1, 5th hour- Algebra Geometry and Algebra 2, 6th hour- Advanced Math._ 'Wow! I have a big day in front of me!' She looked around the room as it was quieting down, she noticed Veronica sitting in the front of the class with a smile on her face. She waved for Flux to come over to her. Flux knelt down in front of Veronica, "What is it Veronica? Anything wrong?"

Veronica shook her head, "No, I did that worksheet but I could find you so I asked Storm and she said that I did excellent because I didn't miss one problem." She said all in one breath as she reached out to hug Flux. "Thanks!" Flux smiled and nodded as she stood up.

"So I heard that we were learning multiplication and division. Is that right?" she looked around the class again and noticed that they were all about 1st-3rd graders. She had met a few of the younger students but mostly the older students so she didn't know everyone's names. "Does anyone know where Mr. Summers left off?" A boy in the back raised his hand. "Yes? Sorry I don't know everyone's name."

"It's Jared. Mr. Summers left off with multiplication of 9."

Flux nodded, this was going to be easy. "Okay. This set is really easy to learn. Does anybody know why?" They all shook their heads. "When learning the 9's, you can use your fingers. I want everyone to hold their hands out in front of them with some space between your fingers. Now first, to find out what 9 times 1 is, I want you to put down your left pinky finger. How many fingers are left?" Jared raised his hand. "Yes?"

"Nine?"

"Yes that's right. Now put the finger back up. Now 9 times 2, put down your left ring finger. You have a one on one side of the finger and eight on the other side. What number would that be?"

"Eighteen!" Veronica said with glee.

"That right! You guys seem to be getting the hang of it! So let's continue. Nine times three is?'

"Twenty-seven!"

Nine times four?"

"Thirty-six!"

…

"And now, nine times twelve?" The class looked around, searching for an answer. "That's okay because now we get to learn how to multiply on paper. I'll write it up on the board. Okay. First step is to multiply on the right side first. What's nine times two again?"

"Eighteen!"

"Right. So we put the eight under the line and carry the one above the other one. What's nine times one?"

"Nine."

"Right. So we have nine and now we add the one that we carried over so it becomes ten. So our answer is 108!" She had a smile on her face because the class caught on so fast.

"Ms. McHill, you teach this more gooder than Mr. Summers." A little first grader said.

"Better." She corrected. "I'm better than Mr. Summers."

"Are you our English teacher, too?" an older student asked.

She just laughed and shook her head, "No, I was just correcting him." She said just before the bell rang to dismiss class. 'Well one class down, only four more to go.'

The next hour went by extremely quick and before she knew it, the bell rang for third hour to start. This was her break hour. She heard a familiar chirp of her cell phone and picked it up. It was Blaze. "Hey what's up chickadee?"

"Ah, nothing much. I just finished picking up some art supplies and I was starting to get hungry. I wanted to know if you wanted to come meet me for lunch. I was thinking Olive Garden."

"Ah, lunch sounds wonderful. I didn't eat breakfast because I was so nervous about class."

"How is class so far?"

"Wonderful. The students are so smart!" She heard another familiar beep. Low battery. "Blaze, I gotta go. My phone's dying. I'll meet you at the Murphy's on Main in 15 minutes."

"Okay! See you there!" and she hung up. Flux walked over to her purse to find her car charger when her phone started to vibrate. A text message, from who? Looking at the main screen, 'Why was Dustin texting her now in class?' She read it, _'Flux, please call me out now. I don't feel too good. In History.'_ Flux snuck down the hall to Storm's classroom and poked her head in as she knocked softly on the door.

"Ms. McHill, please come in. What can I do for you?"

"Well, actually, I need to talk to Dustin and Alyson for a moment. Would that be alright?"

"Um, yeah I guess."

Flux walked back out into the hall and was soon joined by Dustin and Alyson. "Okay, now why don't you feel good? If you feel sick, then just ask Ms. Munroe to check you out when she has time."

"Flux, we're not sick. We don't like it here. These people don't like _us_ here. We want to be with you and Blaze, not with these strangers!"

"Yeah, some boy pulled my hair and then forced my mouth shut so I couldn't tell the teacher with some sort of power. I don't like it!" Alyson began to pout.

"Okay kids. This is enough. Now how old are you two? You two shouldn't be complaining like this. I know it's new but you'll adjust and make some friends who will accept you for who you are rather than a lie you tell every one as a cover up. I'm sorry but this is a good school where we can all be safe from normal people."

"But I want to be normal again!" Alyson wailed.

"Alyson! Hey that's enough! You two need to suck it up for the rest of the day and we'll talk later tonight, okay?" They both nodded and walked back into the classroom. She blew out a sigh of exhaustion, which she didn't know that she was holding, shook her head and grabbed her purse and keys and headed out the door.

Blaze pulled her car into the parking lot just seconds before Flux did. Murphy's was a cozy "Mom and Pop" restaurant that served grease for breakfast, lunch, and dinner but that's how Blaze and Flux liked it. Their favorite plate is their open-faced burgers, starts with bread (1 slice) then the fried patty with melted cheese all over it topped off with fries covered in homemade brown gravy. It was to die for, but the best part was that the owners were mutants. The customers just never knew. The first time they came, they kept getting a mutation vibe from a few of the workers. Turns out that the kids were mutants too as were _both_ of the parents. Talk about genetics! Well they were really kids, more of 24 and 22, but they acted like teenagers.

They ordered and talked quietly to each other. The place only had 4 or 5 customers but they left not long after Blaze and Flux arrived. The place was empty and their food was brought out. Spenser and Aaron sat down next to the girls as they were eating. They had stopped in a few times before and each time Spenser would flirt with Blaze and Aaron would flirt with Flux. Spenser could control the density of his body and Aaron had telekinetic abilities which made it easier to work in the kitchen when the burgers can be flipping while he's serving food and chopping up tomatoes and lettuce all at the same time.

"Hey girls. How's it going? Food good?" Spenser asked as he kissed Blaze on the cheek as Aaron did Flux.

"Hey boys. Nothing much. How's business going?" Blaze asked in return.

"Pretty good. Can't complain. Crowd hasn't come in yet but that's okay with me. Means more time with you."

"Oh! Today I taught little kids how to multiply and divide. Did I tell you guys?" Both shook their heads. "Oh! Well at the school, one of the teachers left on an assignment and I was left in charge of his class so I became a substitute teacher and might become permanent. Blaze is going to be teaching too!" Flux said as she grinned from ear to ear.

Both of the guys looked at Blaze as she nodded to confirm what Flux had said. "Yup. I'm teaching art starting tomorrow. I just got done buying all of my supplies."

"Well are you excited?" Aaron asked as he wrapped his arm around Flux's shoulders.

"Yeah I'm excited. I get to make a mess _and _use my powers and not get in trouble. It's a win-win situation." Blaze smiled as she took a bite of her burger.

_Ding ding!_ "Oh well we have to get back to work. See you later girls. I'll call you." Spenser pointed to Blaze. They nodded and continued eating. Flux finished off her plate by eating the last fry dripping in gravy. Blaze raised an eyebrow towards her.

"What? I was famished! I told you that I didn't eat breakfast!" Blaze just shook her head and took her last bite and got up to go pay. Flux went into the back and kissed Aaron good-bye. "I'll talk to you later, okay?" She promised him.

"Sounds good to me. See ya."

"Bye!" She waved back as she walked to the front where Blaze was hugging Spenser bye.

"Talk you later, babe." Spenser said as Blaze started walking for the door with Flux on her heels.

"Later!"

"So I'll meet you at the school. Yeah?"

"Yeah sounds good. See ya then. Be there or be square." Blaze shook her head.

'That's a cheesy line that should not be said in public.' She thought. "But I like ovals and triangles! What then?" She yelled across the parking lot.

"Then you're screwed!" Flux laughed and climbed into her car and drove away.

As Blaze started her car, Spenser came running out of the building yelling at her. "Blaze wait up! Stop!" She stopped her car and rolled down the window.

"Yes and how may I help you?"

He smiled and shook his head. "What are you and Flux doing this Saturday night?"

"Um…nothing that I know of yet. Why?"

"Aaron and I want to know if you two wanted to go see a movie after dinner. If that's alright with school policy?"

Blaze smiled, giddy with excitement she nodded her head. "Yeah that sounds great. We'll be by later to give you guys directions to the school."

He nodded and poked his head in the car and gave Blaze a long kiss on the lips. Breaking apart for air, he smiled and walked back into the building with a new bounce in his step. Blaze shook her head and drove away, back to the school.

'Ugh! If only my room was on the first floor! I bought too much stuff!' Blaze thought as she climbed the stairs to get to her room. She dumped all of her things on her desk and began to organize and label everything on where everything was supposed to go. About half way through, she got burned out on labeling and decided to take a break and come back to do this later. School was still in session, so she wondered if any basketball games were still going on. She looked down and saw Logan steal the ball from one of the students who protested that he had fouled as Logan shot and made a 2 pointer.

"Game! Everyone get washed up and get ready for your next hour. Shake hands." He said as he wiped the sweat off his forehead with the back of his arm. A new game would start at the beginning of next hour so she ran to her room and changed into a pair of Sophie shorts and a t-shirt that says _'Does not play well with others'_ and headed down stairs.

Logan turned his head and saw Blaze walk out and picked up a stranded basketball. She looked at it, tested the air pressure, dribbled a little and shot from off court and scored. Logan raised an eyebrow in her direction. "This is my break hour. I thought about actually taking a break, but a new challenge has arisen if you care to join me in a one-on-one game." He said retrieving the ball.

"Hmm…I don't know. I don't want to make you look bad or anything. Maybe I should just go back in?" Blaze said starting to turn around and walk back inside.

"Whoa! Make me look bad? I think you've got that turned around sister." He bounced the ball. "Check. We'll go to 35. Whoever loses has to buy dinner tonight. Agree?"

"Yeah sure. Whatever!" she said as she stole the ball from his grip and scored three points. "Three Zero!"

"You cheated." He checked again and scored himself two points. "Oh, and No Powers!"

Blaze snapped her fingers, a flame popped out of her thumb. "Oh darn." She said sarcastically. "Two Three." He checked but Blaze knocked it out of his hands and shot another three points. "Six Two. This game's going by pretty fast."

"Oh, but I'm just warming up."

"Warming up? You've been playing for three hours!" He just laughed and shook his head as he scored himself three points.

"Five Six." The game went by really fast since both kept scoring points against each other. By the end the score was 36 to 28, Logan had to buy dinner tonight.

"Okay, so we could say that you are worn out from the previous games, but there's still the fact the I WON!" Blaze laughed as she shook his hand.

"Okay, whatever, good game. I think I'm going to go pass out."

"Just wake up in time for dinner! Make it nice!"

"Yeah, okay, whatever." Logan and Blaze walked into the kitchen for some water. "So, do your parents know you and you brother and sisters' are mutants?"

Blaze looked at him. Just the mention of her parents brought flames to her eyes for all the hatred they had shown in the end of their time together. "Yes they do." She gritted through her teeth. "And they rejected us. We haven't talked to them in almost 5 years. Like I care." She finished her water and then retreated to her room, pissed off beyond relief. She closed her door and collapsed face down on her bed, but she heard the door open again.

"Blaze, come here. I want to show you something." Logan said from the doorway.

"I just want to be alone and blow off some steam, right now. I don't want to see anything."

"No but holding in your anger for them is damaging."

"Oh yeah? And how would you know?"

He cocked his head to the side, 'This girl has a temper on her. So much like mine. Hmmm…' He looked down at the floor and then back up at her. He saw the flames in her eyes, but behind them were tears yet unshed. God, he couldn't stand to watch girls cry! "Dry up and follow me." He said as he turned on his heel and started walking down the hall.


	4. Stick a fork in her, she's done

A/N: Thanks to the readers! This is my first fanfic so I hope I'm doing okay. Let me know! Flaming is okay to a point just keep it to a minimum.

**Maid of the Mer: _ I like blue berry muffins thanx! Hehehe Thanks for the review!_**

**Mm4ever2gether: _Thanks for not burning me and the relationships between Blaze, Logan, and Spenser, well, you'll just have to read on! ;)_**

Chapter 4

'What in the world was he going to show me? Why should I care? But the anger is tearing me up inside and I know it isn't healthy.' Wiping her face with the back of her hand she dried her tears and threw on a pair of her stretchy jeans and stepped out into the hall. "Alright, now what are you going to show me that's so important that I see it _right_ now?"

"The kids call it the Danger Room. I want to show you what it can do for you in anger." He grabbed her arm and led her down the hallway. They entered what looked like a studio booth with a glass wall that looked into a larger room.

"What is it?" she asked him as he started messing with some dials and knobs, obviously setting some program for them.

"Well, it's a training device for the kids but I use it to let off some steam in this stress house. Come on." He said leading her through another door that led into the larger room. All the walls were white except the glass wall. There were two stands in the middle of the room, spaced apart with simulation goggles with cuffs next to them. He put a set of the smaller cuffs on his wrists and the larger set around his ankles. He nodded at her for her to do the same. "Are you ready?" Blaze nodded, not really knowing what to expect. "Put the goggles on and we'll begin." Blaze quickly put the cuffs on and slid the goggles over her eyes. They actually reminded her of Scott's goggles that he wore when he didn't have his shades on. "Okay, I'm starting you out easy just to see what you're made of."

Blaze smirked, 'So this was his test of her? Okay.'

She saw Logan standing there in front of her on some street that she's never been to before. "Where are we?"

"In a program. Get a feel for it first. Try and kick me." Blaze went to kick him but Logan caught her foot. 'But we're too far away to actually touch one another?' "Now the cuffs that you have on make it feel as if you have resistance when you kick, punch, lunge, etc. And when someone punches you, you'll feel pressure. Understand?"

"Yes I do. Totally." She smiled to herself. She had played one of these types of games in an arcade once. Oh course she knew that this would be different, but it had the same concept.

"Great now let's get started." He said smiling to himself and nodding. Blaze approached him with a left hook followed with a right hook that he dodged both swiftly. Blaze backed up a bit so he couldn't reach her, but she saw him extend his claws and stood in defense stance. 'That's a bit unfair.' "Okay now on weapons, you won't get hurt but your character will. If you look at the top, you'll see your life and the amount of time we have left. Just think of your power and your character will obtain it without you, yourself catching the real me on fire. Okay?"

"Alright. Let's get started." Logan nodded and advanced on her with his claws pointed at her. Blaze knew somehow that he would do that and so she held him in midair telekinetically. She approached him, smiled, and then kicked him in the head with a round-house.

"Damn it!"

"What's wrong Logan. Hate being beat by a girl in another sport of yours? I thought you were a pro at this?" She cocked her head to the side. "Come on, hun. Show me what you've got. I've got some steam to blow off."

"Oh you don't know what you're up against, darlin'." He came at her with all he had, of course not showing it, but she was pretty good, almost too good. Kicks, punches, neck grabs had no affect on her. She always managed to slip out, shake it off, and turn around and kick his ass instead. She finally did him in when she sent him the third sucker punch in the stomach, low stomach, almost too low. He keeled over to catch his breath, and other things, when she decided to break the silence.

"Old age catching up to you, hm? Well that's too bad because I'm actually starting to enjoy myself. Don't you have something a little harder?"

He looked up at her, shaking his head. "You have a temper with a wild spirit. Darlin' you need help or a good ass kicking."

"Maybe I need both. Let's try it." He looked at her, not quite sure of what she meant. "Come on. Set up the program for something harder." She was starting to grow impatient.

"Okay okay. Just hold on to your horses. Geez, and the team thought I was bad." He unbuckled the cuffs and took off the helmet and headed into the office to change the program. Instead of moving it one level up, he moved it three levels up. "That'll take care of her. Maybe she'll slow down enough to use it right so she won't hurt herself." He muttered to himself as he turned the dials and flipped a few more switches. "Okay, it's starting up right now. Get ready." He said over the com.

"Thanks, buddy." She said sarcastically. The program started like Logan said it would, only the opponent that appeared was rugged looking, heavily built, scary looking. Logan could see the fear on her face. It only last a few seconds but he caught it none the less. He saw her tense up and prepare for the worse. She saw the man she named Bob in her head slowly stepping up to her, testing her reactions. The burly man fisted his hands and swung at her and making contact, sending her 'flying' across the street. Blaze hurled over from the blow and snapped up from an upper hook that Bob threw at her. "God damn!" She tried to surprise him with a round house like she had with Logan, but Bob knew she was going to do that and caught her leg, spun her around, and kicked her in the stomach once she fell to the ground. After only a few minutes of this, Logan shut off the program and walked into the room. He looked down at her, sprawled on the floor, panting and moaning in pain. Nothing was broken he could guarantee because the program couldn't do bodily harm, only the pressure could leave bruises that would heal.

"Is that challenging enough? I could go put it on a higher level if you want. You look like you could put up another fight…" He started to walk back into the control room. When the words 'higher level' slipped from Logan's mouth, Blaze's head popped up and she shook her head quickly.

"No...more…" she moaned. "I can't feel my legs, my arms, head, my whole body." Logan smirked and shook his head. She tried to uncuff herself but her arms were too heavy and they fell beside her. "Help, please." She put on her pouty look and lifted her arm to have it fall next to her again. He bent down next to her, his face getting closer and closer to hers.

"Now…" he said almost whispering, the space getting between them getting smaller. Her breathing hitched. "Did you get that all out of your system?" He looked into her eyes. The look on his face that made anybody tell the truth, out of fear or out of awe, he couldn't tell and he didn't care. She nodded frivolously again. "Good, now I brought you here on a chance that I could help you train so you could let off steam properly. If you can't do that, I _will_ restrict you from this area of the gym. Understand?" She nodded in response. "Good. Okay, let's get you up." He gently picked up her arms and uncuffed them along with her legs. Her helmet/goggles had fallen off sometime ago, sometime between the end of the program and when she fell to the ground. He peeled her off the floor and scooped her up in his arms. Just the shifting of her uncontrollable pain made her moan and see spots in front of her eyes.

"Knock out another one, Logan?" Ororo passed him in the hall, peering at Blaze.

He shrugged, "She didn't listen to me. She learned, quickly." Blaze moaned and slowly nodded her head up and down. "Uh, she's going to be in pain. Could you help her?" Ororo raised an eyebrow, and smirked.

"You wouldn't want to do it yourself. Talk about your selflessness, Logan. I think you're improving."

"Shut up. Never mind. I'll have Flux do it." He continued walking down the hall.

"Logan, you're so stubborn minded. Of course, I'll help her." She continued muttering to herself as she walked into Blaze's bathroom in her room. "I've got hot water running right now. I have to go get some soothing cream for those bruises. I'll be back in a second."

"How many layers of clothing do you have on Blaze?" She laughed but saw the seriousness in his eyes.

"Two. Shorts and tank top underneath." She muttered under her breath.

He nodded, "Turn around."

"What? Why?"

"Just do it." She could hear the aggravation coming out in his voice. She nodded and faced her back to his front standing in front of a mirror. He placed his hands on her hips as he grabbed the seam of her shirt. She watched the expressions that passed over his face as he started to pull up her shirt to reveal her camisole. Half way up, her arms couldn't go any higher because of sore muscles. "Here let me help." He said looking at her through the mirror. She nodded and he massaged her back slowly lifting her arms as the muscles relaxed until they were above her head and he pulled the shirt over her head. As he was massaging her back, he caught a glimpse of joy, pleasure, and some pain in her eyes, but mostly he saw lust. Lust? Did she feel that for him? 'Something to ponder on tonight.' He said to himself. He stood there for a moment, just staring at her staring back at him. She looked at them, up and down as he was checking her out, up and down. Finally he snaked his arms around her waist, pulling up closer to her, smelling a mixture of sweat and perfume, Adidas for Women. Blaze rested her sore back on his strong chest as he leaned into her back. He slowly undid her top button on her jeans and slowly unzipped her jeans. He started pushing the jeans down as she moved her hips so they would slide off. He bent down and helped her step out of them just as Ororo came back into the room.

"Thanks Logan. I've got it from here. Ouch! Those look painful." The bruises on her back and stomach were turning a sickly green and some of them were puffing up into welts.

"Yeah but they don't hurt as bad as they look. It's just a few of them." Ororo gave her the 'Are you kidding me?' look. "I promise." She said holding up the Scout's Honor symbol with her fingers. Logan looked skeptical but nodded and walked out of the room, shutting the door harder than he expected. He had to figure out what they were going to do for dinner. He did lose a bet and he was never one to back out of a bet.

"Poor thing. He's still in mourning over Jean." Ororo shook her head as she helped Blaze to the tub and discard the rest of her clothing. Blaze looked back at her. 'That's not the face he just had on his face.'

"Why do you say that?"

"He's constantly moody. He'll be nice and caring one minute and snappy the next. Well, he's always been like that but now it's more constant. I don't know what we should do about him. He'll be leaving in a few days to go into the city."

"What does he do in the city?"

"I don't know. No one ever asked him. As I said earlier, he's moodier now that Jean is dead. No one can actually carry a civilized conversation with him anymore. The professor can't even get to him anymore." She said as she added bubbles to make the bath extremely bubbly.

"But he has classes and he's not like that with them."

"Oh, of course not. They didn't do anything to him. He blames us, the team, for Jean's death. He feels we should've done something for her, but we couldn't, she wouldn't let us. Depending on his mood, he can either be the nicest person you can ever meet or the most hostile person you want to get away from."

"What about Scott? He seems to be extremely hostile with him. What's with that?"

"Jean was engaged with Scott but was taken by Logan. Logan flirted openly with Jean and it pissed Scott off that Jean would worry herself over him. But once she died, I don't know, something snapped and Scott became the number one opponent to Logan and from the first day of meeting him, Scott returned the hate. Well, now that I've said all of that, I've realized that I've said too much. You should just really forget all about it." Ororo nodded and helped her washed her hair. Once that was all done, Ororo left her on her own for her privacy. Blaze had brought a portable CD player in the bathroom and hooked it up to some Linkin Park Live in Texas. She sang along with the first song which was "Somewhere I belong".

'_When this began I had nothing to say_

_And I'd get lost in the nothingness inside of me_

_(I was confused)_

_And I let it all out to find that _

_I'm not the only person with these things in mind_

_(Inside of me)_

_but all the vacancy the words revealed_

_Is the only real thing that I've got left to feel_

_(Nothing to lose)_

_Just stuck, hollow and alone_

_And the fault is my own _

_And the fault is my own_

_I want to heal, I want to feel _

_What I thought was never real_

_I want to let go of the pain I've held so long_

_(Erase all the pain till it's gone)_

_I want to heal, I want to feel _

_Like I'm close to something real._

_I want to find something I've wanted all along_

_Somewhere I belong _

_And I've got nothing to say_

_I cant believe I didn't fall right down on my face_

_(I was confused)_

_looking everywhere only to find that it's_

_Not the way I had imagined it all in my mind._

_(So what am I)_

_What do I have but negativity_

_Cause I cant justify the way everyone is looking at me_

_(Nothing to lose)_

_Nothing to gain, hollow and alone_

_And the fault is my own _

_And the fault is my own_

_I want to heal, I want to feel _

_What I thought was never real_

_I want to let go of the pain I've held so long_

_(Erase all the pain till it's gone)_

_I want to heal, I want to feel _

_Like I'm close to something real_

_I want to find something I've wanted all along_

_Somewhere I belong _

_I will never know _

_Myself until I do this on my own_

_And I will never feel _

_Anything else until my wounds are healed_

_I will never be _

_Anything 'til I break away from me_

_And I will break away _

_I'll find myself today_

_I want to heal, I want to feel _

_What I thought was never real_

_I want to let go of the pain I've held so long_

_(Erase all the pain till it's gone)_

_I want to heal, I want to feel _

_Like I'm close to something real_

_I want to find something I've wanted all along_

_Somewhere I belong _

_I want to heal, I want to feel like _

_I'm somewhere I belong _

_I want to heal, I want to feel like _

_I'm somewhere I belong _

_Somewhere I belong.'_

She had the volume up high, so high that she didn't hear the door open and close. 'She sings pretty good.' She had her head resting on the head of the tub, waiting for the next song to start. There was a scented candle, sugar cookie, burning right by the tub filling the bathroom with the aroma.

"It's my favorite scent. It's relaxing after I've had the crap beat out of me thanks to you." She opened her eyes and looked up at him and raised an eyebrow up at him. "What can I help you with Logan?"

He shrugged and sat on the toilet seat. "Just wondering where you wanted to go for dinner."

"Anywhere where I don't have to wear anything skimpy. I would prefer to stay covered up tonight." She smiled.

Logan played as if she shot him in the heart. "Oh man. I have to miss that? Well that blows the plans that I had."

Blaze laughed and blushed a bit. She felt really exposed only being covered by a layer of bubbles. "Well, to other people it might look like you beat me regularly." She giggled.

His eyes got serious, "I would never do that you know." She nodded and smirked a bit.

"You wanna get my back for me. I couldn't reach even if I wanted to."

He nodded and wetted the washcloth. She hissed as he hit a sore spot. "Sorry."

"No it's okay. It'll heal."

He laughed, "Well I've never really had this problem."

"Yeah yeah yeah. Hurry up because the water is getting cold." To add more emphases to hurry up, her stomach growled.

"I think the water vibrated on that one."

"Are you done?"

He shook his head. "Not quite." He leaned down and started to kiss her behind her ear, slowly moving down to the nape of her neck.

'_When I pretend everything is what I want it to be_

_I look exactly like what you had always wanted to see_

_When I pretend to forget about the criminal I am_

_Stealing second after second just 'cause I know I can_

_But I can't pretend this is the way it'll stay_

_I'm just trying to bend the truth_

_I can't pretend I'm who you want me to be_

_So I'm lying my way from you'_

"Lying from You" was blaring through the headphones. "Logan." Blaze looked at him. A struggle was going on inside of her. 'Go through with it or push it off for Spenser.' He looked at her hard, and finally nodded. "I'll be down in five minutes. Promise."

He stood up and walked out of the bathroom closing the door behind him. He was getting mixed signals from her. It was starting to get annoying that she would go so far and then pull back. Like him, but not the same. He went up to his room and changed out of his gym clothes. 'Okay so something simple. The bar and grill sounds good enough for me.' He grabbed his jeans, T-shirt, and his boots and headed to the showers.

'What am I going to do?' she asked herself as she got out of the shower. I like Spenser, well, he's my age and he knows to a point what I'm going through as a young adult, wanting to have fun. But Logan had me from "hello", and he knows what it's like to be rejected and abandoned. Our birthday is in a week and a half, and I don't know who I want to spend it with. Maybe I should think about this tonight and not now. Where are we going to eat? Logan never told me.' She dried off and grabbed her robe and set off in a search to find Logan.

"Hey where are we going for dinner?" She knocked on his door and heard him walking around behind the door. "Um…hello? Anyone home?"

The door opened and he was shirtless with his jeans on. Tight fitting she also noticed.

He looked her up and down, standing in front of him in nothing but a robe. "Yes?" a small smirk formed on his lips.

"Uh…" she stuttered a bit, not quite able to form words. "Uh…where are we going for dinner?"

"A local bar and grill. Anything else I can help you with? Like getting dressed?"

"Um…no, I think I'm good on that. Thanks. I'll be ready in five minutes."

"That's what you said ten minutes ago!" he yelled down the hall after her. She flipped him the bird and walked into her room and shut the door.


	5. Game of Pool?

**mm4ever2gether: _thanks again for the reviews. I just got a job so whenever I'm not working, I'll hopefully be working on this to stay updated._**

**Maid of the Mer: _I'm so privileged to receive three! WOW! Thanks_**

**My PenName is…: _Thanks for the review!_**

**Saffire Snake: _Sorry about the mix up. Thanks for pointing it out._**

**Chrizz: _Thanks for reviewing. I appreciate all reviews. _**

**A/N: Sorry for the long wait but I had to go to work. Thanks to all for reviewing. Every review charges me to write more so keep it up! Thanks!**

Chapter 5

"_And you're on fire_

_When he's near you_

_You're on fire when he speaks_

_You're on fire burning at these mysteries"_

_-"On Fire" by Switchfoot_

They walked into a dimly lit bar with neon signs crowded on all of the walls. The ride was…enjoyable to say the least. She wrapped her arms around Logan's waist and leant into his back to "block" the wind. The mixture of different smells filled her nostrils of leather, sweat, and Logan's cologne. She smiled into his back as he sped away to a local bar. When they arrived at the bar, she shivered and wrapped her arms around herself as she got goose bumps.

"Cold?"

"Just a little chilly. The wind must have gotten to me. Come on, I'm hungry." She started to walk into the bar when she felt a heavy coat cover her shoulders. The smell filled her nose again and pulled the coat closer to her as she smiled up at him. He smiled, nodded and then walked into the bar, without holding the door for her. 'Well so much for being a gentleman!' she thought as she yanked the wooden door open. They both stood at the entrance, adjusting their vision to the darkness while scoping out an empty booth. Finding one in the back, where Logan likes to be alone, was an open booth.

"Logan, got a guest with you tonight, huh?" the bartender walked up to their table carrying with him a pitcher of beer.

"Lost a bet." He simply said. "Don't listen to anything this man tells you. It's probably all lies, okay?" He told Blaze nodding his head in the bartender's direction.

"Name's Mitch. Pleased to meet you."

"Call me Blaze." When Mitch's eyebrows shot up, she explained, "Nickname." He seemed to like that answer, so he continued on with his job.

"The usual?" Logan just nodded. "Two?" He nodded again. "Coming right up." And the bartender walked away.

"Usual? What's the usual?" She asked, discarding the coat.

"You'll see. So," not knowing how to start a conversation.

"You want to know about my parents." He tried to pull of a denial look but failed and finally nodded. "That's a long story, so I won't tell you unless you've got the time and patience." He nodded and she started her story while they waited for their food. "Okay, now where to start." She looked into his eyes, really deciding if she wanted him to know about her past. Should she let him in, or should she continue on with her life without anyone's pity? He had a look of trust and understanding in his eyes, he nodded to assure her that he was all ears. "Okay, well it bean when Flux and I were 12…"

"_Hey Hali! What's wrong with the hair drier? It's was working for you this morning! Hali? Where are you?" Edana was walking through the house trying to find her sister which wasn't too difficult to get lost in. A 5,500 square foot house in the middle of South Carolina in the mountains was their home sweet home with a fantastic view of the mountain range from the living room panoramic window that was also set on a cliff. Today, their parents were out having dinner and the twins were both at sleepovers while Edana and Hali were going out to the movies with some friends. "Armageddon" just came out in theaters a few weeks ago. Plus, there was this really cute guy who flirts with her during Algebra. "Hali! Where are you? Answer me please!" Blaze walked by one of the bathrooms, one with a huge Jacuzzi tub with a window facing the mountain range like the living room. "Hali? What's wrong?" Hali was sitting on the side of the tub, just staring at the water faucet. "What's going on?" Edana walked up behind Hali and noticed something odd. The water was frozen in mid-air as it was coming out of the spout. "Oh my gosh! What happened?" Edana was shaking Hali by her shoulders, trying to get her to snap out of the world that she was in._

"_Wh-, What? Oh, Edana, I was just going to take a bath before I got ready, but the water seems to have froze." She said in a monotone voice, sounding far away._

"_How did it happen?"_

"_I don't know. I just stuck my hand under the water and it froze."_

"_Hmmm…that sounds odd, maybe you just need to turn the heat up." Edana tried to adjust the temperature but realized that the water was all the way up. A tear ran down Hali's face. "Hali, what's wrong? Tell me please!" Edana begged Hali, holding her hands. "Your eyes! Their crystal blue!"_

"_Promise me you won't hate me! You won't turn me away?" Edana shook her head._

"_Of course not!"_

"_Okay," she blew out air, chilled and freezing, "I think that I'm a mutant." She closed her eyes, scared to see Edana's reaction._

"_Oh my…" her mouth was frozen in an 'O' shape. "Are you sure?" She nodded and looked down at her hands. Frost was resting on her palms. "Oh, Hali, I'm so sorry! We can't tell anyone though, you understand this right?" Hali nodded._

"_Edana, I'm scared!" A tear rolled down Hali's face as Edana wrapped her arms around her sister._

"_No, no. Shhhh…" Edana rocked back and forth trying to comfort Hali. "How about I call Tom and Billy and tell them that we aren't coming and we can watch movies all night. How about that?" Hali slowly shook her head._

"_Edana? Do you think mom and dad would hate me?"_

"_No. They are the most caring parents that I know. You've seen our friend's parents, right? Not caring at all, but that's not our parents. We'll just have to find the perfect time to tell them okay?" She looked at Hali closer. Hali was always the closed up one of the two. "Do you want me to tell them?" Edana's head snapped up, her eyes full of hope._

"_Would you do that for me?"_

"_I would only do it if you ask me to." She gave Hali an encouraging smile and left to go call the boys._

"That night, we told our parents that Hali was a mutant and that if they had a problem with it, they would have to deal with me." Blaze laughed as she recalled her childishness toward her parents. Mitch walked up holding two baskets containing two giant burgers and fries over flowing the sides.

"Thanks Mitch." Logan said as Mitch walked away. Logan ate a few fries and then nodded to Blaze to continue her story.

"Okay, so…The next Monday was a very stressful day because literally every hour had a test to be taken, and I hadn't studied…"

"_Mrs. Baker! Can I go to the bathroom please?"_

"_Not while we are taking a test, Edana."_

"_But I'm finished and it's an emergency!" It really wasn't an emergency; she just wanted to get out of the classroom. _

"_Okay, but hurry back." Edana nodded and headed to the bathroom. She sat with her head in her hands for a long time before getting up with a clear head. As she was drying her hands, the heat from the machine hit her hands and fire spurted out of her hands. She pulled her hands from the drier and the fire stopped. She looked around, alone in the bathroom. The machine was still running, blowing hot air. She stuck her hands under the machine again, and fire roared out again._

"_Oh my gosh!" She ran to the nurse's office as fast as she could and called her mom._

"It took a little while longer to totally get the full abilities but it scared us because no one could understand what we were going through and we could see a doctor because we would just be turned in. We knew that we couldn't hide our powers forever since we were always in people's conversations; people were always trying to tear us apart because we were high society. Well, one day, I finally slipped when I got in a fight with another girl at school…"

"_Edana! What kind of stupid name is that? Hey I was talking to you! Get back here!" Lori was stomping after Edana who was walking away from the gym class. Lori stood about 5'7" when Edana stood at 5'2". Lori was also very over weight and mean._

"_What did I do to you, Lori?"_

"_I heard some weird things about your family, Edana."_

"_Well, what did you hear?"_

"_That your father had a mistress, for starters. That your mom leads a second life, your dad isn't your little brother and sister's dad, and that you and Hali are mutants." She laughed at the thought and her whole posse joined in. The only person who didn't laugh was Edana. Her eyes were wide, as if she was caught with a bloody wrench in the Library with Colonel Mustard. Lori saw the look on Edana's face, she stopped laughing and pointed her chubby finger at Edana. "So it's true! You are a mutant!"_

"_Shut up Lori!" Edana exploded. She swung and hit Lori square in the jaw, then she shoved Lori away by pushing her shoulders. Only Lori's shirt caught fire and was melting to her skin at a rapid rate. "Oh my god!" she said over the screams and howls of Lori trying to get her shirt off. Suddenly, a cold breeze swept through the crowd and extinguished the fire on Lori. Edana looked to see where the ice came from and was surprised to see Hali standing there with her hand extended and her eyes ice blue._

"_They both are mutants! Get away from them!" the crowd was yelling at them. Finally society had found a flaw in the McHill family._

"_Edana! We need to leave now!" Hali said sharply under her breath. Edana nodded and ran all the way home. It was only five miles but it was five miles through the mountains and Hali knew the short cut through the woods to get home fast._

"I remember mom and dad deciding that we needed to move and transfer to a different state. I recommended that we just transfer schools and stay in our home or be home schooled, but our parents wouldn't hear of it." Blaze paused to snack on some fries and to take a bite of her excellent burger. "I remember being upset. So upset that the stove caught on fire." She laughed at her powers of the past, when she noticed that Logan had a smirk on his face. "What?"

"You blew up a stove?"

"Actually, a grand total of 5. I blew up 3 living with parents and 2 on the road." He nodded as if he understood what it was like being on the road. "Anyways, ever since then we were always moving from one house to the next. I think one year we moved 4 times. Never stayed in one place for very long." She stopped talking and started to eat. Logan was thinking over and processing everything that she had just told him.

"But why did you two leave?"

"Actually, dad claimed that one of us had slipped, but I think he was going insane and was remembering something that happened in the past. He came stomping up the stairs and told us that we were moving in with our grandmother that either Flux or I knew. Me, being my rebellious self, decided to live on my own rather than live with a stranger. Flux didn't want to go either, so she joined me and we became a team of our own. As we were walking out the door, my dad said he didn't care what happened to us. He was ready to have a normal life again, but I don't think he realizes that his life will never be the same. I hope I just never have to see the man ever again." And with that, she finished off her fries and burger.

"So you two ran away." She nodded and looked at him over the rim of the glass of beer.

"Always on the run. Never staying in one place for over 2 months." Now that she had said it, it sounded like she was still living with her parents. Old habits die hard right? "Well, not anymore."

Logan smirked and nodded at that point. "Well how about we play some pool for a bit?"

"Yeah sounds good but I have to say that I've never played before."

He laughed, thinking that she was joking but he saw the honesty in her eyes. "You're kidding, right?"

"No."

"Okay. Then it's time you learn." He said getting out of the booth holding his hand out for her hand. She gladly accepted it and they walked over to the table. He grabbed two sticks and handed one to her. He held up a little blue square, "This is chalk. You're supposed to chalk the tip of your stick after every shot that you take or after every turn, okay?" She nodded, absorbing all instructions. "Okay this is a triangle. There are certain ways that you can set the balls up but the only ball that stays the same is the 8 ball, the black one. It's always in the center. Okay?" she nodded, absorbing all of this new information. "Alright, then the cue ball," he held up the cue, "the white ball goes at the other end of the pool. You shoot the cue at the balls, once you remove the triangle." He broke and the balls went in all different directions. None of the balls went in any of the pockets. "Your turn. Get behind the cue ball like this," he pulled her around so she was pointing towards the other balls, "and you hold the stick like this." He lowered his voice, almost whispering in her ear as he came from behind her, his hands over hers, holding the stick getting ready to shot. "Aim, lean into the shot, breathe in, breathe out, and shoot." He was hovering over her, their faces so close together. She leaned into his chest as he showed her how to shoot. She pulled the stick back and fired, sinking in a solid.

"What does that mean?" she asked him. She glanced up at him, smiled and moved away.

"That means from now on in the game, you're trying to get all of the solids in the holes before I get the stripes in."

"Uh-huh." Logan took his stance behind the cue ball and shot. The only available stripe ball was resting by the eight ball. When he pulled back the stick, Blaze walked up behind him and bumped him as he shot, causing him to miss and sink the eight ball instead of the stripe. "So what does that mean?" she asked grinning wide.

"That means that I lost and you won. Because you cheated I might add."

"Me? Cheat? Never!" a gleam caught her eye. "It isn't _my_ fault that _you_ lost _your_ concentration!" she smiled her best smile, she hoped he wouldn't get upset, but he just smiled back and gathered the balls together and put them in the rack.

"Okay, then. Let's try this again, hm?"

"Yeah, sure I guess."

They spent several hours playing pool and once Blaze won without help from Logan. Several empty pitchers of beer gathered on their table as a new pitcher was brought in by Mitch.

"Guys, this is the last round. I'm closing down in an hour." Logan waved him off and nodded.

"We need to be going anyways. Thanks Mitch." Logan walked over to their table, picked up his coat and wrapped an arm around a very drunk Blaze and headed for the door. He helped her get up on the bike and put on his coat around her. "Looks good on you." He said as he took a step back to take it all in.

"Thanks, I think." Blaze slurred her words a bit as she tried to compose herself on the back of his bike. "Do you have to look at me like that? It's eery, very scary." She started to nod her head and close her eyes.

"I only look at you like that because I wonder how in the world you ever survived to today. It's of concern kid." He swung his leg over the bike, reached behind him and grabbed Blaze's arms and wrapped them around his waist,

"I don't need help…" but she passed out and collapsed, resting her head on his back.

"Yeah, sure. Whatever you say, darling." He said as he started the bike and headed back to the school. When they passed through the gates, Logan cut the engine and coasted into the garage as to not wake anyone up, since it was 2 o'clock in the morning. Blaze slept the whole 30 minute ride home but lazily woke up to see Logan get off the bike and look at her, and then all went black. Logan watched her slowly open her eyes and then pass out. 'She's going to have one bad hangover in the morning.' He shook his head as he once again scooped her up into his arms and started for her room. Stealthily Logan walked up the stairs, moving around the parts that squeaked when too much weight was put on it. 'Why does this always happen?' He didn't really care, he enjoyed it. He hoped it happened often enough, just to hold her in his arms; no one can touch her or harm her but him. He gently laid her down on the bed, her head hitting target on her pillow. He quietly slipped her shoes off her feet and slid her under the covers, smiling as he let the thought of her reaction of finding him in her bed too slip through, but quickly dismissed it. He stood, stooped over her gazing at her sleeping. The light snores that escaped her nose and the little line of drool falling from her mouth. He smirked and laughed. He wouldn't change a thing of her; she was perfect in every way. He slowly bent down and placed his lips on her forehead and stood up and left, for the third time this week.

The sunlight shone brightly through the curtains in her room, landing directly in her eyes. Moaning, she rolled over and checked the clock. '7:30! I have 15 minutes for class!' She jumped up and grabbed her clothes and ran into the bathroom for a quick shower and to get dressed. She finished in record time and ran downstairs to grab a piece of toast just to run back upstairs to prepare for art. "Whoa! Where are you going in a hurry?" Storm looked at Blaze weird.

"Class starts in a little bit! I have to hurry! Excuse me." She said as she passed into the kitchen.

"Blaze, honey, it's the weekend. We don't have school today. The kids are still sleeping right now." Blaze felt her eyes droop and her jaw drop.

"What?"

"Yeah. It's Saturday. No School. Hey you look like you could pass out again any second, so how about you go back upstairs and rest for another hour and a half or so and then come back down when everyone else is awake." Blaze nodded tiredly and started to head back upstairs. Her eyes closed once she hit the pillow, again.

'Blaze. Blaze, it's time to wake up. Blaze, it's time.'

"Uhnnn…" Blaze opened her eyes and looked around, no one in the room. Hmmm…

'That's it Blaze. Wake up. Please come into my office now. It's important.'

Professor. 'I'll be right down. Just give me a minute.' She moaned and rolled out of bed. Within minutes she was sitting with the rest of the team, facing the professor. Blaze shook her head, not believing everything that she was hearing. She knew that she was now part of the team and she would go out on missions to save and rescue mutants but she didn't know that it would be this soon.

"We leave in 1 hour to go to Colorado to pick up a boy named Dewey. He also goes by the name of D.J. He is anamorphous, he can change into any animal that he wants whenever he wants. I felt a lot of stress coming from him, almost like a strain to continue living. We must reach him quickly and securely. Marie, Bobby and Colossus will be in charge until we get back. Plan on returning tomorrow. You're all dismissed. Be in uniform and at the jet in one hour!" the professor said as everyone was leaving.

"Um… Professor? We don't have uniforms." Flux was still sitting in her chair and Blaze was leaning against the door frame with her arms crossed across her chest.

"You do now. I will have Storm drop them off for you to your rooms."

"Thanks Professor. In an hour." Blaze said as she opened the door for her and Flux. He nodded and went back to the paperwork that he was working on before and getting ready for the trip. "I'm going back to sleep. Come get me in 30 minutes."

"Okay. I'm going to go get something to eat. See you in a bit."

"Okay." Blaze headed up the stairs once again and was ready to fall back asleep, but she felt a presence near her. She formed a fireball in her hand and slowly walked into her room.


	6. Welcome aboard!

**I am so sorry that it has taken soooo long for me to update and I hope it's worth it.**

**Gaerwen: Thanks so much for reviewing! I enjoy reading reviews from everyone! **

**Amanda: I don't know when I'm going to finish. I plan on quite a few more chapters so stay tuned!**

**UglyDrummers: Thanks for the review.**

**A/N: Thanks to all for reviewing and to those who keep reading! I promise the next chap. will be up soon! de lovely**

"Whoa there Firefly! Put the flame back where it belongs. It's just me." Logan had a hand in the air and the other in front of him.

"What are you doing in here?" Blaze asked, raising an eyebrow and diminishing the flame.

"Just here, to tell you to be careful." He slowly started to relax and came up to Blaze.

"Careful?"

"Yeah these missions can be really, really dangerous." His voice dropped down a few octaves. He looked her in the eyes for a brief moment before he dropped his head to hers.

"Uh, Logan…" But he cut her off by pressing his lips to hers. Her mouth was slightly open from speaking, but he took it as an opportune moment and slipped his tongue in. Lost in the moment and enjoying the contact, she wrapped her arms around his neck as he wrapped his around her waist. She then pushed him away and took a step away from him. "Uh, Logan. I can't do this. I'm seeing someone else right now." She didn't mean to just blurt it out but it slipped.

"What?"

"I'm seeing someone else. His name is Spenser and he's a mutant too. We've been dating for a year now…oh my gosh!" Realization hit her.

"What now you have a hot date with him?" He shot at her with a pained look in his eyes and a look of anger written all over his face.

"Actually, I do! I have to go talk to him before we leave. Tell the professor to wait up for me, please?" and with that she grabbed her purse and keys and ran out the door. She made it to the restaurant in record time. She ran into the door breathless and looked around. "Spenser!" she grabbed his attention as he finished up with some customers.

"What can I do for you, babe?"

She smiled at the name, "I actually came to cancel our date tonight. Is that okay?" He gave her a questioning look and cocked his head to the side. "I'm going out of state for a day. How about we have our date on Monday?"

"Yeah okay. That's cool. Are you okay though? You look a little freaked."

"No. I'm okay. I promise. Can you tell Aaron for me? I haven't even told Flux so she won't even know the difference. Can you do that for me, please? I have to go get ready."

"Yeah, okay. I'll tell Aaron for you. When are you leaving though?"

"In less than an hour. I really have to go. Love you." She leaned up to him and gave him a kiss on the lips and a hug before she ran back out the door and almost flew back to the school. She ran up the stairs back to her room and found it empty with an X-Men uniform lying on her bed with boots sitting on the floor by the bed.

'Flux, come see me in my room.' Blaze mentally called for Flux. Minutes later she heard a knock on her door. "Come in!"

"You called?" she laughed at her own joke that Blaze wasn't even sure of what the joke was but smiled and continued.

"Yes. Okay we had to reschedule our date with the boys until Monday. Is that okay?"

"Uh, yeah I guess since I didn't even know that we even had a date with them to begin with. When was the first date?"

"Tonight. That's where I was just now, at the restaurant. I just thought I should tell you before I forgot again."

"Okay, that's alright but we have ten minutes before we leave. Hurry up." Flux said as she closed the door behind her to head down to the jet.

Blaze suited up and grabbed her boots and ran to the jet herself. She boarded and found a seat next to Flux and started to lace up her boots when she heard a growling voice.

"So glad you could join us, Blaze." Logan spat her name. Just then the jet started up and they began lift off and head off to Colorado to go pick up the mysterious D.J...

The trip was very interesting for the most part. The ride to Colorado from New York was fast and very quiet. No one spoke. This was the first mission without Jean being there as a team. Logan avoided eye contact at all costs with her which didn't make anything simpler for her emotions. She liked Logan, a lot, but she also liked Spenser. Anyways, they arrived in the mountainous terrain of Colorado in the Rockies. The forest was everywhere but we had managed to find an empty area on a flat plain. When they walked off the jet, a fox was calmly staring at them. Logan sniffed the air and walked over to the fox. The fox turned back into the forest, changed into a mountain lion, and ran away from the group.

"He's running away! We need to get him!" Storm was yelling as she started after him. Wolverine shook his head and followed the scent into the mountains. Everyone was left behind as Wolverine quickly tracked DJ down into a cave.

"Quit running kid!" Wolverine yelled after the lion. It turned around to see where he was and ran into the darkness of the cave.

"I'm not running." A strong but scared voice echoed off the walls.

"Looked that way to me kid."

"Quit calling me kid! I'm 22 years old." Wolverine smirked and shook his head. 'Oh, if only that kid knew how old I was. I wish I knew how old I was.' "What do you want with me? Who are you?"

"I'm here to take you back to the lab where you'll be safe."

"Safe? From what? I'm doing fine out here."

"Humans."

A medium built man walked out from the shadows with a questionable look on his face. He had short blonde buzzed hair with a golden goatee. His blue eyes sparkled from the reflection of light coming from the entrance. All he could see was this buff man blocking his escape. He was built but not as big as this man standing in his way.

"Humans? But aren't you a…?"

Wolverine popped his neck and extended his claws for the boy to see. "So you say you're doing fine out here. How long have you been out here, DJ?"

"How did you know my name?"

"As I said, I'm here to keep you safe. How long?"

"A few weeks."

"Okay, I'll make a deal with you kid…" Retracting the blades back into his hands.

"Quit calling me kid!"

"Ummmm….no. Here's the deal, come with me for a week to the school. If you like it, then you are more than welcome to stay but if you don't like it at all, then I'll drop your ass right back here for you to live for the rest of your life since you know how to live on your own in the wilderness. Deal?" He extended his hand out to DJ.

He took a moment to think about it. "Okay, I'll do it. But just a week. Then _I_ decide, not you."

"Okay," he said as he took DJ's hand. The team came walking up into the cave as they shook hands.

"Everything okay?" Storm asked, eyeing both of them.

"Yeah, everything's fine. Let's get back to the jet. He's got some deep cuts that need to have some medical attention."

"Okay, let's go."

They all walked back to the jet in silence, the awkward silence that everyone is scared to break. Once inside, everyone took their seats and waited for Storm to get done bandaging him up.

"So are you all mutants?" DJ squirmed in his seat as if he was going to be pounced for the question.

"Yes, and the school that we are going to is full of mutants. We protect and train mutants of their powers and to go back out into the world fully educated or stay on to become teachers." Cyclops answered.

After another awkward silence, Blaze finally spoke up. "So why are you out here in the forest?"

He glared at her but answered none the less. "Follow me." He stood up and walked down the plank and started to walk up the side of a hillside.

Everyone looked at each other but got up and followed him. "Where are we are going?"

"Hurry it up!"

"But why? Why couldn't you just tell me?"

"Because you have to see it. Look," He said as he pulled some branches out of the way for everyone to see. "See that ranch down there? That's where my parents live. I couldn't venture very far. They feed me every night because they think I'm just another wild animal. They're suckers for deer because they know that they are hunted a lot out here between the wolves and poachers." Right at the bottom of the hillside was a flat valley plain with a ranch house and barn yard spread across the floor.

"It's beautiful, DJ." Flux commented.

"Thank you. I thought so too when I was growing up. I couldn't dream of living anywhere else, but things change and so I think I'm ready for some new scenery."

'Blaze, please hurry on your mission. I know you have him.' Professor mentally told Blaze.

"Could we hurry this up? Professor is getting anxious." Blaze announced to the crowd.

"Yeah let's get going." Scott said as he corralled everyone away.

Once back on the jet, Flux found her seat and began to buckle herself in for the night. DJ found the seat next to her, Blaze's seat, and started to buckle himself in too. "So what are your powers?" he simply asked.

"I control water. Contradicting my sister, Blaze. She controls fire and flame." She nodded in Blaze's direction as Blaze eyed him for sitting in her seat but nodded, smiled and found another seat, ironically next to Logan. Blaze looked out the window, watching the sun set over the mountains. It was going to be a long flight home. Flux and DJ continued quietly talking about current events that were happening. Blaze heard her name a few times but was too tired to listen in on what they were saying. She looked over to Logan to see what he was doing. She slowly looked over at him and saw him looking back at her with a calm, sad air around him. They held eye contact for what seemed like forever but he looked down and stared out the window. She felt sad and ashamed at the same time. How could she have hit on him and endlessly flirt with him just to push him away and break his heart for another guy that she had been with for a year. Not that Logan was one to pine over a girl who broke his heart, but the guilt caught a hold on Blaze. She blew a sigh out and went back to staring out the window as the lights went out and the engines started up. Storm and Cyclops sat in the cockpit talking to the professor over the com, but they were just droning sounds. Her eyelids started to get heavier. She looked back over at Logan and saw him staring at her again. She smiled slightly at him and closed her eyes to get some extra sleep. The fact that Logan couldn't stop looking at her warmed her heart enough to let her sleep with a smile on her face.

Although the flight was 6 hours due to the time change. She woke up to some turbulence and looked around to see that the jet was on autopilot and everyone was asleep, all except one. Logan. He was sitting in his chair, staring out his window again but sensed Blaze awake.

"Can we talk?" Blaze whispered across the jet.

"About what?" He continued to stare out the window.

"About what happened earlier. I didn't mean to sound so….loose. I should have told you about Spenser a long time ago. I didn't mean to…"

"Blaze, don't worry about it. It's okay." He mumbled, stealing a glance at her then back out the window. "Don't eat yourself up about it."

"But you're the only friend I've ever had. I've told you things that Flux doesn't even know about. I don't want to destroy our friendship."

"Friendship? What, are we friends with benefits or something?"

"No but I'm sorry about that. It's just that Spenser is a jealous guy and if he knew something weird was going on, then things could get bad."

"Oh, wouldn't want to disappoint the boyfriend." He mocked. "You're still just a child to me." He turned and stared at her in the eyes. "You're just a child."

The words stung her. She had always thought that she was very mature for her age. It hurt her pride and her feelings but she wouldn't let him see that at all. She was tougher than that. She blew out a sigh of frustration and continued to look out the window again.

Minutes later she heard him snoring lightly and Storm waking up. She looked around and saw Blaze awake, staring out the window. They were coming up on New York and would be landing soon but she had some time to have a quick chat with Blaze.

"Blaze, can we talk for a second?"

Blaze looked up at Storm, "Sure, I guess. About what?"

"About you…and Logan."

"What about us? What's wrong?"

"Well I could ask the same thing to you. What's going on between you two? I feel tension."

"Um…well it's a little complicated, but we're working it out. We just need some time apart to get it together. Don't worry about it. It'll be okay." Storm nodded and went back to controlling the jet into Westchester. "I hope." Within minutes Blaze saw the school with the sun rising over the horizon. Everyone was waking up as they landed underneath the basketball court. Blaze was one of the first one's off the jet and headed straight to her room. She changed into some jeans and a t-shirt and headed back out the door to her car.

"Blaze where are you going?" Flux yelled after her.

"Out!" She said as she slammed her door. Logan was sitting on the porch, smoking a cigar. He watched her drive away from the school, fast.

'God I hope she's okay.' He thought to himself.

"Why won't you just admit that she has a hold on you?" Professor asked Logan as he wheeled up next to him.

"Chuck, I have no idea what you're talking about."

"Oh, it's okay to deny it to me but can how long can you keep on denying it to yourself?" Professor wheeled himself back into the home to check up on DJ.

'Why can't I just forget about it all?' He blew a sigh of desperation out and took the last drag of his cigar and put it out to go get some breakfast.

Blaze turned up her radio up as far as it would without blowing out her windows. She didn't know where she was going; she was just getting out of the same area as everyone else. For a mood like this, it called for some caffeine. She pulled into a gas station and got some French vanilla coffee. It was hot for a cold morning and it tasted delicious. Tomorrow was her date with Spenser. But she couldn't stop thinking about Logan. Finally after an hour of driving, she decided to pay a visit to Spenser and try to figure it all out. She pulled into the restaurant and looked in. They weren't open yet but they had to be there to open and get ready. She grabbed her purse and knocked on the glass door. Sheri, Spenser and Aaron's mom, answered the door.

"Hello, Blaze. How are you doing this fine morning?"

"Um, okay I guess. Is Spenser in this early?"

"Yes. He's setting the tables. Is anything wrong honey?"

"No, no everything is fine. Thanks Sheri."

"No problem darlin'."

She calmly walked over to him and sat down at the table he was setting. "Hi Blaze. What's going on?"

"Um, could we talk for a second?"

"I guess." He set down his tubs of plates and silverware and sat down across from Blaze. "Is everything okay? There's nothing wrong right?"

"I don't know. That's what I need to talk to you about. I need to know how we're doing. I'm feeling a little confused on us."

"Whoa! What brought this on?"

"Nothing! I'm just curious. I've been thinking a lot and I just wanted a simple answer so I can go on happy." She tried to give a genuine smile but could only fake it.

"I don't know what made you think of us like this but as far as I know, we're doing excellent. Has anyone done anything to you to think otherwise?" He looked Blaze square in the eyes. She tried to hold his gaze but she was sure he could see right through her. "Blaze, tell me the truth. Who was it? What did he do to you?"

"Nothing has happened! I swear! No one has done anything at all. If anything has, you'd be the first one to find out. I wouldn't do that to you, Spenser."

He sat back and crossed his arms looking at her seriously. "What are you doing tonight, Blaze." His eyes still holding hers.

"Nothing that I know of. I was going to try and catch up on some sleep. Why?"

"Let's go out tonight. Just me and you. Go do something. What do you say?"

Blaze thought about it but gave in, "Okay, where do you want to go?"

"Anywhere. Anywhere away from that school of yours. Let's go out to eat somewhere nice and then go shoot some pool."

"Okay. Well I guess you'll need directions or something."

"Yeah I guess." Blaze grabbed a napkin and drew a map and wrote out some directions and her cell number just in case. "I'll see you tonight at about six thirty then?"

"Yeah sounds good." Spenser stood up and reached out for her and surrounded her in a hug and kissed her on her forehead. "Love you."

"Yeah, me too." She smiled at him and pulled him back into a hug. She grabbed her purse and turned to leave but before she could get out the door she overheard his mom and him talking.

"Are you sure nothing's wrong?"

"Yes mom. Everything is fine…I think." She turned and waved as the door closed behind her. It was only seven o'clock. Her brother and sister would be eating breakfast right now. Flux would be getting ready for class tomorrow. She hopped in her car and sped off back to the school.

"Where have you been?" Logan asked from the front porch as Blaze came up the walk.

"Clearing my head. What about you?"

"Sitting here. Thinking."

"Okay. Well I hope you have fun." She nodded and went inside.

Blaze decided to go ahead and catch up on her sleep now. She barely made it up the steps before running into a body. "Oh, sorry. Excuse me." She stepped to the left and moved around the body. Entering her safe haven and falling into the cushioning of her bed and pillows.

The man continued down the stairs and went out to the porch where he found Logan still sitting there, smoking his cigar.

"Logan, I need your help."


	7. You

Blaze buckled on her helmet as she straddled the motorcycle behind Spenser. Logan's voice still echoed in her head, '_You're still just a child._' It kept repeating in her head; so much that she could see Logan's face, the sadness in his eyes, the pain written on his face. She shook her head, willing all thoughts and visions out of her mind, and wrapped her arms tighter around Spenser as he threw back a smile and revved the engine.

Fall was upon them with the trees of red, yellow, orange, and brown, dropping their leaves around them as they flew by on the long, narrow windy road, leaves coming to life. They reached the restaurant in no time flat. Spenser jumped off the bike once the engine died and the kick-stand was down. He held out his hand to help Blaze off. She looked up at the restaurant and blinked in recognition. She had seen the ad in a paper on its Grand Opening about a year ago. "Spenser, this is an expensive restaurant! Only the rich eat here!" she chuckled a little to lighten the mood but she was just as serious. "Are you sure you want to eat here?"

Spenser smiled brightly at her, "Well the restaurant has to be fit for your attire, hun." Blaze looked at her outfit. She thought that it was pretty casual, but not too casual. It was a plain black skirt with low heels and a light blue shirt. Casual but not formal. "Besides, there is no price for you." She smiled up at him as he lifted her hand to his lips. Not wanting the moment to end, but hearing her stomach growling, she laced her arm through his and walked into the restaurant.

"What?" Logan was confused. He doesn't even know this person at all.

"Tell me about Flux! I want to know more about her." DJ said with excitement in his voice.

Logan, not sharing DJ's excitement asked, "You never really had a girlfriend, did you?" DJ took a seat next to Logan as Logan blew a puff of smoke in DJ's face. Choking and sputtering on the smoke in his lungs, "Why…do you…ask?"

"Because usually the girl will tell you all you need to know about her." He took another drag of his cigar, "Plus, I don't know anything about Flux."

DJ's smile grew, "But you know about Blaze."

Logan's head snapped up and faced DJ. DJ's smile quickly faded and he scooted back a bit. "Excuse me?"

"Well…uh…it just seems that you two had something going on," he stammered.

"What gave you that impression?" asked Logan.

"Animal instinct and the look on your face when Blaze left to go out. It's pretty obvious." Logan looked back at the gates of the mansion.

'Is it that obvious?' he thought.

"Yes" came an all familiar voice. The Professor wheeled out onto the porch.

"Hey Chuck." Logan threw back a glance at him before looking back again, taking his last drag of his cigar before smoldering out the flame. Logan stood up stretching. His adamantium joints cracking, rippling throughout his body. DJ's eyes got wide as he scooted back a little more.

"What _is_ your mutation?" he gasped a little.

The Professor spoke up finally, "Logan has the power of healing, but also has an adamantium skeleton lined with his real skeleton." It almost seemed that Logan was being talked about without him really being there when he was in fact standing right there glaring at DJ. When Professor was finished, Logan nodded his head in his direction and excused himself and started to walk away.

'How long, Logan? How long?' Hearing the voice again in his head, he looked over his shoulder and saw the Professor holding his gaze at him. Logan shook his head and turned and walked away, up to his room.

"Thank you for dinner, Spenser. It was amazing." She looked up at him, but his stare made her look back down quickly at her hands in her lap with a sheepish grin on her face. Spenser, on the other hand, had yet to take his eyes off of her. At first, he was studying her, seeing through her eyes to find out what was running through her mind. But after a while, it was mostly for his self pleasure of eating dinner with a beautiful woman. The way the candles accented every one of her features on her beautiful face; the way she looked tonight. Blaze stole another glance at him and stared back. "What are you staring at?" She had a big grin on her face.

He reached out and took her hand, messaging the back of her hand with his thumb, "I'm just enjoying what could possibly be the best moment in my life." Blaze pulled on his hand, pulling him in for a kiss. When she pulled back, he smiled and sat back for a second. "Blaze, happy anniversary."

Blaze gave him a confused stare, "What?"

"Today is our three year anniversary. We met three years ago, right out there, on the street. You about killed me because I accidentally knocked a few pieces of paper out of your hands." He laughed as he was reminiscing.

"Oh yeah, I remember know. I was having a really bad day. We just got evicted from our apartment. God, I can't believe it's been three years!" She sat back with a huge smile on her face.

"Yup, and ever since then I have loved life even more."

She looked over at him, "Why's that?"

"Because you were and are in it." He said leaning in towards her over the table.

She leaned in to meat him half way, "Okay, who are you and what did you do with my boyfriend?"

After he paid the very expensive, they decided to go take a walk in the city park. Holding hands and huddling together to stay warm in the cool night, they walked into the silence of the night. Tonight was perfect. The moon and stars were out, without a cloud in the sky, shining their light upon the couple.

"This has been the longest week in the world." Blaze said breaking the silence. "Thank you again for doing this for me, for us."

"There's nothing in the world that would stop me from being with you. You do know that, right?" She nodded as a tear slipped out of her eye. He stopped her walking and faced her with a serious face, looking her square in the eye. "And I would never hurt you. Ever." She nodded again and tilted her head into his chest as he embraced her into a tight hug, as he planted a kiss on top of her head. "Come on. Let's get you home. You get to finally start your class tomorrow. It's been delayed too long. I bet the kids are dying to know what kind of a teacher you will be. I know I am." Blaze laughed at that, being joined by Spenser.

He turned off the engine and coasted into the drive of the mansion. Blaze slowly got off the bike and handed back the helmet that she borrowed for the night. "Thank you, the night was wonderful."

"Ah, it was nothing for you. Good Luck for tomorrow." He leant in and planted a kiss on her lips as she smiled.

"Thank you." She turned to walk up to the door when she noticed a curtain move in the window above her. It was Logan's room. What was he up to? She turned to face Spenser, smiled again and waved as she entered through the door silently. After the click of the door, she heard Spenser start his bike back up and drive away. She slowly made her way up the stairs and walked down the hallway. She passed by Logan's room, his light was still on.

Logan was getting ready to go to work out in the danger room when he heard a soft knock on his door. He knew it was Blaze. He could smell her perfume, COTY's Vanilla Musk. He silently opened the door while Blaze jumped being caught off guard. "Can I help you with something?" he gruffly said as he turned back into the room to get his jacket. For some reason, she couldn't respond because she was too busy staring at his defined abs and his sculpt back. He was only wearing work out pants, for now. When she didn't answer, he turned back around to see if she was still there. "Are you okay?" She started to say something but no words came out, so she just leaned against the door frame. He thought that something was up but she finally answered, "I just saw your light on."

He nodded and pulled on his jacket, "Are you sure everything's okay?"

"No. What you said on the jet is stuck in my head and I can't stop thinking about it." She said crossing her arms around her chest and giving him a pissed off glare.

"Well, then what are you going to do about it?"

"Kick your ass." She said turning towards the danger room. "Are you coming?" She turned to him and nodded her head in the direction of the room. She had time and she had the temper. Where it came from, who knew? She stopped in her room and slipped on a pair of Soffe shorts on underneath her skirt and continued on her way. Logan was blown away. What had just happened? But all he could do was follow her and her bad temper which he knew all too well himself. She could feel her adrenaline pumping through her veins, the beats getting louder and louder in her ears.

"So did something happen between you and your lover boy or something?" Logan cynically asked. He knew what he was doing, he was mocking her, building up her temper to explode mode and he was ready for it. He could take anything, well almost anything. Heartbreak was the only think he couldn't take, people didn't know and he wouldn't let them know. He usually drunk himself into a stupor.

"Everything is fine with us!" she took a step in and tried to punch him in the stomach but he anticipated it and side stepped to avoid the hit. "Thank you for asking." She sent him a series of round-houses and punches to the side of the head. She broke skin with her rings and he started bleeding but he healed up within seconds. He blocked most of the attacks but she did get to him and he had had enough. Finally he grabbed her wrists and twisted them and her body so her arms were crossed and her back was to him. She knew that that wasn't the best position because it meant defeat and she wasn't about to be defeated. She rolled on her right side, taking Logan with her, freeing her hands she sat on top of him for mere seconds until Logan continued with the roll and trapped her with all of his weight on top of her.

"So what really is your problem?" he said slightly out of breathe.

As calmly as possible with all his body weight flattening her out, she whispered, "You."

He was taken aback for a second. He looked into her eyes and could see the tears start to form, although he could tell that she was fighting them. It felt as if he was looking into her soul. He slowly lowered his head and claimed her lips. She was lost. What is happening? But it ended as soon as it started. Logan pushed himself up to his feet and walked out of the room. He couldn't take it anymore. She stayed laying on the ground, trying to grasp what had just happened, as she let her lungs replenish themselves with oxygen. She soon got up and wiped the tears that rebelled and slid down her face. As she closed her bedroom door she could hear a motorcycle driving away. She drove him away. Just the thought of that made her collapse on her bed and cry it out.

'What have I done!'

**A/N: Hey sorry it took me so long to update and that the chapter is short! But you have to remember that I am a senior in school and college is coming up. But for more info on my characters go to my website. **


	8. Happy Birthday to you

_Sorry that I have taken so long. No one responded to the last chapter so I didn't really know whether to continue or not. Right now I'm continuing for my own curiosity of where this story will go. By the way, be sure to check out my website dedicated to the story. There are pictures of the characters and a poll. There will be more to it but it's a work in progress. Thanks so much for all of your support. Please keep reviewing and let me know what you think! de lovely_

Let's Get the Party Started!

"Hey! E! Wake up girl!" A groan escaped from Blaze's mouth as she rolled over and found Flux sitting on her bed with Dustin and Alyson with her. They were surrounding her, but what for? They didn't seem sad, so no one must have died throughout the night. They weren't jumping up and down hysterically, so they all didn't win a million dollars from Ed McMahon. So why are they grinning so big?

"Hmmm… What time is it?" She glanced at the clock by her bedside and was horrified. "It's 6:30 in the morning! Why are you waking me up so early?"

"Umm…let's think about what today is. Hmmm…." Flux pretended to ponder on the current date. "Uh, hello! It's our birthday! We're 21 years old now! Get up! We have a surprise for you! Well, Dustin and Alyson do." Flux stepped back and took a seat next to Blaze on her bed. Dustin and Aly each brought forward a bed tray full of breakfast foods that the girls love to eat. Pancakes, with lots of syrup and butter, with a side of sausage links and scrambled eggs were piled high up on several plates. Toast and jellies were on another plate while the orange juice and milk was presented to them. Two bowls of cereal were set off to the side. Dustin and Alyson both picked those up and started to dig in while the two girls just stared at all of the food in front of them.

"Are y'all sure that you don't want to share? There is plenty to go around. You guys made enough for the whole school."

"Yeah, we're sure." They said in unison as they dug into their Frosted Flakes. The breakfast was divine. There was not much more to say. This was the first time in the month that they had been living here that they had spent together with some real quality time. They all enjoyed it and spent hour after hour catching up with each other's hectic lives. Between Blaze spending time between Logan and Spenser, Flux staying on top of her math classes, and Alyson and Dustin doing project after project in their classes. Before they knew it, all of the food was gone, and lunch was just a few hours away. It was a Saturday and the weekend was a well deserved break. The graduating seniors finished their finals yesterday and received their diplomas overseen by the state of New York. It was exciting to see the ceremony in the back yard, especially for Blaze and Flux since they got their GED's a few years ago. The graduates were given one night on the town and were to come back in the vicinity of 3 am. Fortunately they showed up in one piece and not a one of them were awake at this hour of 10 am. The point was proven when the McHill kids were walking through the halls with their dirty plates to the kitchen. Not a sound was heard or made.

When they reached the kitchen, Bobby was awake, nursing a glass of orange juice. Blaze looked over at Flux who was looking a little flustered. "Bobby, what are you doing up?" Flux asked as she set down her plates.

"Ah, I don't need a lot of sleep. Never was a heavy sleeper." He replied as he gave a hug to Alyson. Every once and a while, she would hang out with Rogue and Bobby. But she hadn't been lately because Bobby and Rogue had been having more and more arguments and personally, Aly didn't want to get involved.

Flux cleared her throat and nodded a little, and gave a meek smile. "Oh, Happy Birthday you two. Do you guys have anything planned?" Bobby asked giving his best smile.

"Um, no not really. Think we are just going to relax and take a break." She said leaning against the counter across from him.

"I'm going to go get dressed and I'll see you later." Blaze said politely, excusing herself from the room with Dustin and Alyson following close at her heels.

"Oh, okay. Well, um, did you and Marie have anything planned for your first day of summer?"

"Uh, no not really. She's still asleep and probably won't wake up for another two hours. But I don't want to hang around here all day. There's too much to do now that school is out." He said spreading his arms out wide.

Flux raised an eyebrow and nodded. "Well then it's settled. We're going out today."

"And what are we going to do?"

Flux laughed, "Well that much I haven't quite figured out just yet. I just woke up a few hours ago. Give me a minute."

"Ok, how about we just get out and figure out the rest later. Meet you back here in say, thirty minutes?" A smile beamed on Flux's face as she nodded started to leave.

"Ok, thirty minutes."

Thirty minutes later, Flux and Bobby pulled out of the mansion drive and through the neighborhood.

"You know, you look better when you smile. I mean, not that you don't look good already, but…"

Flux laughed at his attempt to fix his mistake, "It's okay. Do you really think so? I always feel like I'm exposing myself when I do." She cut herself off as if realizing that she had said too much. She turned and looked out the window, watching all the houses fly by.

"Of course I think so. When you smile, you're eyes light up and you become more animated." Flux turned to face him.

"Really?"

"Well, I wouldn't lie to you!" he said as he pulled into the mall parking lot.

"What are we doing here?" Flux asked as she unclipped her seatbelt.

"Well," he placed his hand on his chest, "today is my first day of summer, so I need to get some camping and summer gear and," he pointed at Flux, "today is your birthday. Today is a day for celebrating and I wasn't about to let you slip through your birthday doing nothing special." He smiled as he draped his arm around her shoulders as they walked through the front doors of the mall. Her smile never left her face.

"So what was with the hug this morning?" Flux nonchalantly asked as she was looking through some bathing suits.

"Oh, with Alyson? She's giving me archery lessons in exchange for fighting lessons." He said as he held out a pair of swimming trunks to examine.

"Really? I didn't know that."

"Well, no one does. At the school, we learn the basics of mathematics and science on top of learning how to control our 'special abilities'. We don't learn anything about how to use _real_ weapons. So I asked if Alyson wouldn't mind if she would help me out."

"So you never brought up the fighting? She did?"

"Yeah," he said as his blue eyes lit up and a smirk appeared on his lips.

"Why?"

"I don't know. There's just something about using the old school weapons that has some draw on me. You could say that I'm a sucker for them. I would have asked Dustin, but he was too busy chasing the girls and Aly insisted that she was the better one." He picked up another swimsuit and took a look at it. "Cool! Look, Flux." He held up a pair with icicles and snowflakes on it. It was blue and white. It fit his personality perfectly and no one would guess why he would have a winter pattern, but the people who really knew him. Flux couldn't help but smile and nod.

"It's perfect! Does it come in your size?"

Bobby searched through the racks and pulled out one his size. "Yup!" he smiled brightly. "Have you found anything yet?" he nodded in her direction.

"No, not yet. I can't decide what style I want or what colors. Or how much I want to spend," she mumbled.

"Whoa! What about this?" he held up a teeny tiny two piece that was two small triangles that barely covered anything and a thong.

"Um, I don't think so!" she laughed. She grabbed it from his hands and put it back on the rack, making sure that no one saw what he was so excited about.

"Hm, what about this one?" she held up a hot pink conservative two piece with black palm trees on it.

"Well, I'd have to see it on before I agree," he smiled wickedly.

"Oh, pul-ease!" She picked up the correct size and they continued on shopping for more clothes and equipment. Soon, they stopped in the food court for lunch. After their meal, Bobby excused himself and left for a minute. Before Flux even knew what he was up to, he returned with a small cookie cake with a candle on top.

"Happy Birthday, Hali." Everything caught her off-guard. Him surprising her with the trip, the cake and then calling her by her birth name, this was all too much!

"Oh my gosh! Bobby, you shouldn't have. You've already done so much." He just shrugged as he set the cake down on their table.

"It's really no problem. Honest." Flux closed her eyes and made a wish before blowing out the candle. When she blew, cold air escaped her mouth and she looked up and around to make sure no one saw that. Bobby just raised his eyebrow and shook his head and laughed.

"Thank you so much." She grabbed her knife and started to slice up the cake. "Does Marie know you're doing this?" she asked, raising an eyebrow in his direction.

"Um, no. She doesn't. I'm sure she's gonna be pissed when she wakes up and finds out that I was out running around with you."

"What do you mean by that?" she narrowed her eyes in his direction.

"Well…Um… Marie can become very jealous and it can get pretty scary at times. I mean, come on! She can suck the life right outta you! Literally!"

"Then why do you stay with her if she's that threatening?"

"I don't know. I just do. She was one of the first people who understood me."

"If she understood you, she would understand why you are gone and not freak out." She smiled again and took a bite of her cookie. "Let's hurry. There's a 1:00 movie at the theatre that I wanted to see." She finished her piece of cookie and grabbed her bags and headed towards the door.

"The theatre is that way." Bobby said pointing in the direction opposite of what Flux was walking.

"I know but I don't want to carry my bags into the movies. I'm putting them in the car." Looking down at the bags that Bobby was carrying, six bags was a lot to carry. He shrugged and picked up his bags and grabbed his cars keys and headed in Flux's direction.

The movie was great, not to mention the fast that she was sitting so close to Bobby and they split a bag popcorn and drink. It was the best birthday gift that she's had in a long time. _'Ugh! You have to stop thinking like that! He's taken! Even though he's kind of scared, he still loves her a lot. So stop!' _Flux shook the voice out of her head and laced her arm through his as they headed back towards the car.

"So how come your boyfriend hasn't called yet on your birthday?" Bobby asked on their way home.

Hali diverted her eyes away from his and shrugged. "I don't know. He seems to be acting weird lately."

"How do you mean?" He stole a glance at her and then put his eyes back on the road.

"Well he's asking more and more questions about the people I'm with and where I am. It almost feels like he's stalking me because of some of his comments that he's made." Bobby gave a concerned face and tightened his grip on the steering wheel ever so slightly. When they pulled up into the mansion drive, Hali recognized the Vette sitting next to her Mazda. She sucked in a deep breath and slowly unbuckled herself and reluctantly stepped out of Bobby's car. Bobby looked over at her with a question in his eyes. "Aaron." Bobby nodded his head and walked Hali into the house with her as moral support.

"Flux! Where have you been all afternoon?" Aaron quickly walked over to Flux.

"Aaron? Is something wrong?" she shot him a questionable look.

"Nothing is wrong now that you are found." He pulled her away from Bobby's side and crushed in an embrace that made Bobby feel slightly uncomfortable.

Bobby cleared his voice and started to walk away, "If you'll excuse me…"

"No! Hey you! Come back here." Aaron stopped Bobby from leaving. Bobby turned around as Aaron continued. "Who gave you the right to go off with my girlfriend? Huh?" Aaron still had one arm around Hali as if he was protecting her from Bobby and the other was pointing at Bobby with a fury unleashed.

"Aaron, what is wrong with you! I don't need anyone's permission to go anywhere! Quit being a jerk!"

"No but I would like to know what you two were doing all afternoon." A voice came from behind Bobby. Hali looked over his shoulder and found a pissed off Rogue with her hands crossed over her chest.

"Marie, don't start it." Bobby turned around and pointed his own finger.

"Okay, y'all need to break it up because there's too much finger pointing." Blaze said as she came up from behind them all. "I would suggest that Hali needs to have a word with Aaron. And Bobby, you need to talk with Marie. Now go you separate ways and don't look at each other. Okay?" No one said anything and they were still looking at each other, not daring to be the first one to back down. "Okay?" Hali nodded and grabbed Aaron's arm, keeping hers eyes away from Bobby's as he watched her walk away. Marie came up behind him and started to pull him with her, but he pulled his arm out of her grasp.

"Don't."

"What is your problem?" Flux was livid with Aaron's behavior down stairs. They went up to Flux's room and shut the door.

"He's my problem, Hali! You're spending too much time with him. I know something's going on between you two. I'm not stupid."

"Nothing is going on between us, Aaron. That's just your imagination at work again, making you panic about every little thing that I do! Since when do I have to check in with you about the people I hang out with? We used to never be like this. Aaron, what's changed that made you so questionable about my actions? Can't I just have some friends for once?" She started to get quiet and tears started to well up in her eyes. She still had a fury in her eyes as the room temperature started to drop while Aaron started to shake from the chill.

"Well why were you with him for so long today?"

"Oh my god Aaron! Today is my birthday and the first day of summer and all you care about is how I spend my time!" A tear rolled down her cheek as she wiped it away.

"Baby, I'm sorry. I don't know what happened. I guess I just got jealous. Can you ever forgive me? Please, Hali." She looked up at him and took a minute to ponder her decision, and then nodded. A smile broke on his face and walked up to her and gave her a hug. The room started to warm up slowly and the goose bumps on his skin started to fade.

"Yeah I can forgive you but just don't let jealousy get the best of you again. Okay?" Aaron nodded and squeezed a little harder.

"So where were you two for the day?" Marie calmly asked Bobby when she closed the door to her room.

"We were shopping at the mall." Marie shot him a glance that told him that she didn't believe him. "If you don't believe me, go pop the trunk of my car and go through the bags if you aren't satisfied." He said as he propped his body against the wall on the other side of the room from Marie.

She snorted out her nose and rolled her eyes. "No, I don't need to do that. So, do you love her?"

"What! What kind of question is that?"

"A simple one."

"No, it isn't. What is with you Marie? You didn't used to be like this. We used to be friends and now we can't even get along with anything."

"You didn't answer my question." She simply pointed out.

"Why are you jealous? Because if you are, then you know exactly how I felt every time Wolverine walks through the door, drawing you away from reality and into your fantasy. Even after he almost killed you!"

"But at least he loved me enough to come after me when I left."

"Don't talk to me about love Marie. How many guys have stayed with you after your mutation began and wasn't scared about you killing them! None except for me! And this is how I'm treated? Screw this! I don't need this." He pushed himself off of the wall and started for the door.

"Bobby, wait! We aren't done here!" Marie shouted after him.

"Yeah," he nodded and paused, "I think we are." He turned and walked away. He walked through the hall and saw several heads popping out of the doorframes, trying to figure out what all of the commotion is about. Bobby's heart was breaking because Marie was his first serious relationship that he had ever had, and now he didn't really know what he was supposed to do now. He'll figure it out later. For now, he went out to his car and started to take the bags out of the trunk. He took his bags up to his room and set Hali's bags outside of her room. As he started to walk away, the door opened and Hali and Aaron were hand in hand as they walked out of the room. Hali's eyes met Bobby's and saw the distress in his eyes.

"Uh…there are your bags from earlier today." He gave a nod in their direction and walked away. Hali could tell that something was off but couldn't tell if it was from him and Aaron yelling or if something had happened between him and Marie. He head was slightly hung as he turned into his room. Aaron saw Hali watching after him and he grabbed her arm and turned her towards the front of the house. The Team was decorating the dining hall for the birthday party that they were throwing for Hali and Edana. Well, except Logan was not present. No body had seen him all day.

Blaze walked up and took a look at what was being done to the room. The professor wheeled up behind her and spoke up. "He's in the Danger Room again. He seems to be spending a lot more time in there." The professor looked up at Blaze with a sincere look in his eyes. "Maybe you should see what is on his mind. He seems to tend to talk to you more than he does any one else."

She was a little reluctant because she didn't need to ask what was wrong with Logan, she already knew. "Can't you just read his mind?"

Professor just gave a chuckle and shook his head, "Logan has built himself a barrier against my powers. I could easily over take those powers but I will respect his privacy and let him talk on his own will."

Blaze gave a slight nod and headed towards the Danger Room. As she was walking through the halls, Marie turned a corner and almost knocked Blaze out. She just kept walking, not even checking to see if Blaze was okay. 'So I take it that the discussion between Bobby and Marie didn't go so well.' She picked herself up off the floor and brushed herself off and continued down the hall. She opened the door to the control room and saw Logan fighting another bad guy through his lenses. She checked his stats and the stats of the "opponent" and saw that he was winning. The battle was almost over and he was about to move on to the next round. She quietly slipped out of the control room and down the stairs to the ground floor where Logan was fighting. The sirens went off signaling that Logan KOed the opponent and that he was moving on.

"Never fails. You could beat these guys in your sleep but yet you still choose to fight a computer instead of a real person." Blaze said in the moment of silence with her arms crossed.

Logan took his lenses off and turned towards Blaze. "What are you doing in here?"

"Oh, I didn't know that the room was reserved or anything at all. And last time I checked, we still lived in a free country. What's it to you?"

"Nothing. You just startled me, that's all."

"I startled you? Man, are your senses fading quick or what." Logan just shot her a glare and she just smiled at him to say that she was just kidding. "The professor is worried about you, you know. He knows something's wrong."

"Did he send you down here to spy on me or something? Because he's got nothing to worry about. Now, if you'll leave me alone, I'll finish my exercises."

"I'm sorry."

"For what?"

"You know what." She turned and started up the stairs. She stopped about half way up and turned to Logan again, "I'll pass your message to the professor." She nodded and walked out of the room. Logan stood there dumbfounded about all that just went on. 'Why was she apologizing? I'm the one that has been avoiding her for these past few weeks.' Logan finished taking the rest of his gear off and put them in the right places and shut down the system and turned out the lights. Right now he had to get ready for two girls' birthday parties.


	9. Surprise

Surprise!

Blaze sat at her vanity, slowly brushing her hair free of tangles after her long hot shower. Only her thoughts weren't on her hair, but on two men constantly fighting in her mind. 'What's with me lately?' she pondered. She loved the attention that Spenser gave her, but she loved the way that Logan looked at her and was "real" with her. He never lied. He was interested into what she had to say. Why couldn't she have both? Oh, yeah. Because that's only in a fantasy world. Right. Flux and Bobby left a few hours ago to go to god knows where. She didn't expect them for the rest of the day. If she knew Flux, she would find some thing of interest to do on her birthday. Earlier, they had made plans that after the party, they would head out to a bar and have a few drinks. She was counting down the hours. There was a slight knock on the door interrupted her thoughts.

"Yeah? Who is it?"

"Who do you think?"

"Spenser?"

"Yeah. The Professor told me you were up here. Is it okay if I come in?"

Blaze looked down at herself. She was only in a towel. "Uh, give me a second!" She jumped up and ran into her closet and randomly grabbed some clothes. "Okay! You can come in now." She yelled as she shoved the shirt over her head just as he stepped in.

"Hm… now that's an interesting outfit if I say so myself." He smirked as he walked towards her to give her a kiss.

"What do you mean?" she asked acting offended. Only then did she really look at to what she was wearing. She had on a pair of pink cord pants with a light blue long sleeve shirt under a tie-dyed t-shirt with a peace frog on the front. "Oh, well…um…I'm starting a new fad. What do you think?"

"Well since its May and about eighty degrees outside, I don't think you need the long sleeves and I think the cords are a bit much as well with the weather. Now for the shirt, I think you should retire it and show your kids someday history and leave it be at that." He chuckled and wrapped his arms around her. "You randomly chose clothes again didn't you?"

"What?! I don't know what you are talking about." She looked away from his gaze. "Ugh! Yes! I just got out of the shower a few minutes ago…Give me a break!" she pouted as she rested her forehead on his chest.

He chuckled again and lifted her chin with his finger and planted a sweet simple kiss on her lips. "You're so cute when you pout."

"Is that the only thing you like about me?" she asked sweetly and innocently.

"Hm… yeah I think so…" She scoffed and slapped his arm playfully.

"Fine, then. You can get out. I don't need you here, so go." She pointed towards the door and headed back to her closet to get some real clothes. She shut the door behind her but left it cracked just enough to let him see her lift her arms and strip off her shirts. He stepped closer and watched her unbutton and unzip her cords but stopped and turned to him. "Like what you see or do you still I'm cute only when I pout?" she asked as she opened the door a little bit more and tugged on his shirt and pulled him into the closet, shutting the door closed behind him. She wrapped her arms around his neck as he pushed her against the wall, losing herself into his kiss. His hands planted on her hips, he broke away from hers and she gave a whimper of discontentment.

"By the way, Happy Birthday." He whispered before he lowered his head again and locked his lips with hers again. He ran his tongue across her lips, asking for access, praying not to be denied. She opened her lips a little and he slid his tongue in, wanting to discover everything about her. His hands started to raise themselves, settling on her breasts as he kneaded them as one of her hands ran through his hair while the other lowered to grope his ass. She soon realized that she was half naked while he was still fully clothed. She began to unbutton his shirt but started to fumble with them and became frustrated. So she ripped the shirt apart, popping off almost all of the buttons in the process. He looked down to assess the damage. Nothing a needle and thread can't fix, but would it be worth it? 'No,' he decided. Screw the shirt. Looking back at his vixen, he saw the lust in her eyes and knew what he had to do. "Are you sure? Once I start, I can't guarantee that I'll stop." He looked her straight in her eyes, looking down into her soul. "You have to want this," he whispered. She nodded her head and pulled his head down for another kiss.

_Ring ring!!!_

"What the hell!" Spenser reached into his back pocket and pulled out his cell phone. 'Work' it read. "No, today is my day off!" Giving out an apologetic sigh as he looked at Blaze while he flipped his cell open. "Hello. Hi mom. What? No, what happened to Roger? Yeah, I am actually kind of busy. Why can't Aaron go in? Ugh, fine, you win. I'll be there in fifteen minutes. Alright, bye." He slammed his cell closed and ran a finger down her jaw to her chin. "I'm sorry babe but I have to go in. I'll hold on to this moment till the moment we can continue." He smiled and gave her a peck on the lips before he picked his shirt up off the floor and walked out of the closet. Her heart was racing.

'What just happened?' It was like she was pushed to the edge of delirium and then rushed back to reality. She couldn't get her heart rate to slow down and her mind couldn't process that what she had started ended as fast as it had started. What had possessed her to become a vixen? She thought that she and Spenser were fine at where they were in their relationship, but he made it clear that he had always wanted this. 'How long has he been waiting for me to make a move?' A thousand questions flooded her mind, so much that her legs couldn't support her weight anymore, so she sank down to the floor sliding down the wall. She looked down at herself, 'yeah, I'm becoming a slut of sorts.' She sighed as a single tear ran down her face. All the men in her life seem to be always leaving her, stranding her at her most vulnerable moment. This moment just proved her point that she had before Spenser walked in. Spenser always gave her attention, but how much was in it for him? Lately, he has become more and more demanding of her time, always wanting her around him. At first, she thought that he wanted to spend more time together since they hadn't in the past. But now, with all that just went down, she couldn't help but question if he was tired of waiting and was hinting that he was ready to move forward with their relationship. The new question was, is she ready for a heavier relationship than what they have right now? She bowed her head into her hands that rested on her knees and began to sob. Why couldn't life be kind just for once?

After a few minutes of her self pity party, she picked herself up off the floor and chose some suitable clothing for the day. As she descended the stairs, she heard voices coming from by the garage door. 'What the hell is going on?' The voices didn't sound too kind but all too familiar. She stood in the shadows and listened in to her sister's problem. When she finally figured that it was probably getting too deep, she decided to step in and mediate. "Okay, y'all need to break it up because there is too much finger pointing going on. I would suggest that Hali needs to have a word with Aaron. And Bobby, you need to talk to Marie. Now go your separate ways and don't look at each other. Okay?" She looked at all four, square in the eyes. But when no one budged, she asked again, "Okay?" Finally Hali nodded and pulled Aaron's arm in the opposite direction of where Bobby and Marie stood while Marie started to pull on Bobby's arm.

"Don't." He said as he stated, walking off in the opposite direction of Hali.

Now, she was once again, in her closet wondering what the heck she was going to wear for the party that the mansion was throwing her and Hali tonight. She didn't really have anything to wear. She had three hours before the "banquet", if you will, would begin. She just got back from relaying Logan's message to the professor and was slightly depressed from seeing Logan again. They haven't spoken to each other in weeks. Seeing him again in the Danger Room stirred feelings that she had buried some weeks ago. Giving an exasperated sigh, she walked out of her room and into Hali's. She wore a somber look on her face, telling Blaze that she too was stuck somewhere between where she has been and where she could be. "I have nothing to wear for tonight." Blaze said as she took the seat next to her sister on her bed.

"I bought a tea dress today when I was with Bobby. I have another dress you could wear. Its more of a sundress. It would fit and its cute." She mumbled under her breath of depression.

"Could I see it?" Blaze asked, hoping to get her out of her rut.

"Yeah." She looked around for the appropriate bag and pulled out a cherry red sundress that reached just above her kneecaps with a square cut neckline that showed enough cleavage to make the dress more appeasing. Blaze shut the door and tried the dress on. It fit like a glove. But of course with both Blaze and Hali having the same figure and dress sizes, what ever fit Hali would surely fit Blaze.

"You look hot, sis." Hali commented on Blaze not only for the dress, but the way Blaze looked like in it. Blaze smiled, she got a response out of her sister. A small victory was won today. "You should definitely wear that tonight."

"What are you wearing?" Hali pulled another dress out but it was a royal blue tea length dress that fit to her form perfectly and commented her curves. It was slightly longer and reached just passed her kneecaps. It had off the shoulder sleeves that didn't really hold anything up, but was just for looks. "Oh my god! You look gorgeous! I can't wait for tonight. Can you?"

"I don't know."

"Hey, what's wrong?" Blaze asked out of concern, sitting next to her sister again. "Doesn't this have to do with Bobby and Aaron?" Hali barely nodded, so much the Blaze almost missed it completely. "How did the talk with Aaron go?"

"Good I guess. I told him that I was tired of the jealous boyfriend act and that he needed to drop it. He apologized for the way he acted. I thought we were good, but when we walked out of my room, Bobby was walking away. He turned and said he was dropping off my bags from this morning. Blaze, the look in his eyes told me that his talk didn't go as well as mine did and he got burned for it. I tried to go after him to tell him that everything would be okay, but Aaron pulled me back. I don't know what to do anymore. This morning, I had so much fun with Bobby. I didn't want it to end. I mean, it was just the two of us, acting like normal people. We weren't mutants from society for five hours and it felt great." Tears started rolling down her cheeks, splashing down on her lap. "I've never felt that free in my whole entire life." Hali looked up into Blaze's eyes and shook her head. "I don't know what I'm feeling but I can't get both Aaron and Bobby's faces out of my mind. I don't know what to do. What am I supposed to do Blaze?" she questioned as she finally broke down into sobs. Blaze pulled her sister to her and stroked her hair as she held Hali.

"I don't know what you should do Hali. I'm in the same situation as you. I'm just as lost as you. But I do know that everything will be okay. Just like its always been. Just me and you. We'll make it out alright."

"But Blaze, I love them both so much. How am I supposed to choose?" Blaze didn't really have an answer for that question because she was asking herself that herself.

"I don't know babe, I don't know."

Blaze held Hali until her sobs subsided and dried up. "Come on, we need to get ready for the banquet. We both are blotchy and need to freshen up." Blaze stood up and held out her hand for her sister to take. Hali smiled weakly and nodded as she placed her hand in her sister's.

"Trust me. It'll work. Once I get rid of Aaron and get Hali for myself, Bobby will be all alone and will practically come running to you. I can't see it any other way."

"How are you so sure that Hali won't go back to Aaron? And how are you so sure that Bobby will come back to me? He hates me right now. He won't even talk to me." Marie sighed as she sat down on DJ's bed as she watched him get ready for the banquet. Every one received a banquet for their birthdays. It gave a change of scenery and was helpful to liven up the company.

"As I said, just trust me on this, okay?" Marie nodded. "You want Bobby back right?" she nodded again. "Then don't fret your pretty face over it. It will all work out in the end."

"Okay, are you ready?" Blaze asked Hali as she laced her arm through her sister's arm. Hali merely nodded and gave a smile. Blaze nodded back and opened the door to the banquet hall. Both girls stepped in and froze in their spots. The grand chandeliers were lit with soft classical music playing the background. On the far side of the room was a long table that stretched from one side of the room to the other filled up with food of all sorts. There were two chairs at the head of the eating table, which they assumed were for them. They heard an applause coming from the grand room and realized that it was the whole mansion welcoming them. They smiled and continued in further in the room. Each girl could feel different stares shooting in their way. Blaze felt the heat from Spenser, Logan while poor Hali had Aaron, Bobby, Marie, and DJ staring at her. Hali ducked behind her sister as they made their way to their chairs. The banquet would begin with a formal dinner and then would later involve dancing and mingling. At the mansion, it was important that every one knew how to dance to classical music and further learn of their etiquette. When they sat down, a waiter came by and set their drinks in front of them. Blaze looked up and noticed that the professor was sitting right next to her. He gave her a small nod of agreement and the feast began. The other team leaders were sitting at the head of the table as well as their boyfriends while the students sat on the other end of the table, including Bobby, DJ, and Marie. Hali and Blaze took this time to catch up with the other instructors and their friends. Their schedules have been contradicting to others so they have never seen everyone at the same time like this before. It was fun because they weren't talking about being a mutant or people trying to take over the segregation of the human race. They were just people sitting down for a wonderful feast, enjoying each other's company. Before anyone knew it, the dinner was finished and dessert was being served. Blaze looked over at the professor.

"Professor, are you feeling okay? You look flushed. Is something wrong?" Blaze asked in a hushed voice. Logan could hear her question and cocked his head in his direction to hear his answer.

"Something's amiss but I can't tell what it is without being in Cerebro," he said looking at her as well as Logan. "Don't worry. I'll keep a mind out for anything coming," as he reassured everyone who heard. Blaze offered a meek smile and dug into her chocolaty dessert. Finally, the meal was over and the girls could get up and stretch their legs. The music seemed to get louder and a faster pace. Both girls felt taps on their shoulders and turned to find Aaron and Spenser standing there, offering their hands.

"Care to dance with me?" Spenser asked.

"As well?" followed Aaron. Both girls looked at each other, smiled, and nodded their heads at their boyfriends. Soon every one followed by pairing up and dancing on the big wooden floor. Once the first few songs were over, Blaze and Hali decided to sit out the next few dances and rest. Hali went and sat down at one of the tables while Blaze went off to go get drinks. When Blaze returned, she looked worried but wanted Hali to stay at the table until she came back. "I'm just a little worried about Professor. I'm going to go check in on him. He seems to have disappeared. I'll be right back."

"Okay. Are you sure you want to go alone? Do you want me to come with you?"

Blaze shook her head, "No, I'll be back in a few minutes. Don't have too much fun without me," she said before she walked away. Blaze knew exactly where to find the professor, Cerebro. She walked into the elevator, pushed the correct floor, and waited. When the doors opened, she wasn't surprised to find that Cerebro was being occupied. She would just have to wait until he came out. But how long would that take? A few minutes, hours? Who knew? She decided that it might take sometime so she went and made herself comfortable sitting on the floor next to the door.

What seemed like hours later, she heard a door open but it wasn't to Cerebro. It was the elevator. "So there you are. Hiding from your party I see." She looked up to find Logan standing over her. "Staking out the professor?" She nodded. He returned the nod and sat down next to her.

"What brings you here?" Blaze asked under her breath, but he heard her.

"You. Your sister started to get worried, but all the boys wanted to dance with her so she sent me."

"Why didn't she send Spenser?"

He glanced at her in defense, "I don't know. You need to ask your sister about that. Maybe he didn't care enough to go looking for you. That's your problem, not mine."

"Well, whether you like it or not, you are in the problem because you came for me and not him." She couldn't hold his gaze anymore so she had to find something to concentrate on. "Why did you come? I didn't think you cared about me anymore?"

"Now why would you think that?"

"I don't know, maybe the fact that we barely speak to each other anymore. I thought we had a really good relationship going there for a while but I was obviously misled." She let out a sigh and decided that her hands were all of a sudden very interesting.

"What do you mean by that?"

"Oh my god! Men are so dense! We use to spend a lot of time together and could even stand to be in the same room for a long time, and now you won't even speak to me and if the other enters a room, the other has to leave because the awkwardness is too strong. Now tell me that nothing is happening." Her frustration was making itself apparent and she was tired of having it pent up.

"You're right, I have been avoiding you for quite some time, but that's only because I need to think about our relationship. Well, the lack thereof. You already have a relationship with someone, your boyfriend Spenser." She locked her gaze on his. "I don't fit in that equation."

"Do you really think that's true?"

"It's the truth."

"No it's not! Do you think that's what I want? I don't! I enjoyed the time that we had."

"Let me tell you something, babe. I didn't choose this, you did when you went back to Spenser. So when you're done, let me know." He started to get up when the doors to Cerebro zipped open and the professor wheeled himself out.

"Is everything okay?" he asked.

"Yeah," Blaze replied, "for now. Is anything wrong? What did you discover in Cerebro?"

"Not much that would be help for me. I know that there is a great power building though. I've never known a power like that. I'll have to keep my eye and mind on it."

"Where is this power coming from?" Logan asked.

"Near Alkali Lake. It may be another mutant returning hoping to find answers. As I said, I'll keep a close eye on it."

'No, it couldn't be could it?' He was the only survivor of the Experiments right? Or were there more mutants out there like him, struggling to remember their past?

"Well we mustn't keep the others waiting now should we? Come, let's get back to the party. This should be a time of celebration, not of worry and depression," the professor said as he wheeled himself towards the elevator. Blaze nodded but stayed where she was. Logan turned in the elevator, "Aren't you coming to your own party?"

"Yeah, I'll be there in just a few. I need to think on some things first, though. I won't be long." She reassured Logan and the professor.

"Okay. We'll see you in a bit." The professor said just before the doors whooshed closed.

"Okay, Chuck. Tell me what's really going on."

"Logan, I have no idea what you're talking about."

"You can't play mind tricks on my Chuck. Spit out the truth."

The professor just sat there for a second. "I think the growing power is Jean. She is returning as the Phoenix. She was battling with its powers right before the accident." Silence encompassed the elevator. Logan was at a loss of words. Could she really be alive? After all this time, could she really return to him?

Sorry for the short chapter but I felt I needed to get this chapter out to the readers. Please give me some kind of feed back to let me know what you think. I appreciate all responses, even flames. I don't mind them. The better chapters are soon to come, I promise. School is about to start again so I can't guarantee when the next chapter will be up.


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